Chilean authorities confirm reports of dead protesters

World October 21, 2019, 6:18

Due to the events unfolding, the authorities introduced a state of emergency in most districts in the capital, in the region of Valparaiso, communes of Concepcion, La Serena, Coquimbo and Rancagua. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera also made a decision to cancel the public transport price hike

BUENOS AIRES, October 21. /TASS/. Actions taken by Chilean police officers and military throughout nation-wide protests and unrest have led to deaths, spokesperson for the Chilean government Cecilia Perez said on Sunday.

"Yes, there are [deaths]. We are deeply sorry about those who lost their lives," she told CNN Chile responding to questions on police and military victim data. At the same time, she did not specify the number of deaths or how these people died.

Meanwhile, Chilean Interior and Public Security Minister Andres Chadwick held a press conference broadcast on Twitter and announced that seven people had died in unrest on Sunday but also failed to go into detail. "More than 40 cases of looting was registered," he said.

Earlier, Chilean firefighters reported that five people had died in a fire erupted at warehouses that were looted on Sunday. Three more people died in a fire in a supermarket earlier on Sunday.

Protests that later escalated into unrest and clashes with the police began in Santiago on October 14 after the metro ticket price rose on average by 30 peso ($0.04) to the maximum of 850 peso ($1.2). Later, the unrest spilt over into other cities of Chile.

Due to the events unfolding, the authorities introduced a state of emergency in most districts in the capital, in the region of Valparaiso, communes of Concepcion, La Serena, Coquimbo and Rancagua. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera also made a decision to cancel the public transport price hike.

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