BUENOS AIRES, November 5. /TASS/. At least 1,659 people were rushed to hospital with injuries sustained during protests in Chile since October 17, the republic’s National Human Rights Institute said on Monday.

According to the institute, 40 people received gunshot wounds, 473 persons were wounded by small shots, while another 305 had wounds from identified weapons. Some 4,364 people were detained during the protests, including 479 underage persons.

On Monday, mass protests against the government’s social policy hit the capital and other Chile’s cities, which saw clashes with police. According to Chilean police, two officers were rushed to hospital with serious facial burns after the protesters had thrown Molotov cocktails at them.

Civil unrest erupted in the Chilean capital of Santiago on October 14 after the authorities raised the subway fares by an average of 30 pesos ($0.04) to 850 pesos ($1.2). The riots later spilled into other cities.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera canceled the metro fare hike and announced a range of social support measures. However, the protests and riots in the country continued. The president announced his decision to cancel the APEC summit in November and the UN conference on climate change in December in the wake of mass riots in the country. According to official data, more than 20 people have been killed in the riots.