Chile riots lead to 800 arrests

Riots in pictures

More than 800 people, many of them of school age, were arrested after clashes in Chile's capital and other parts of the country, officials said.

The violence erupted during an annual left-wing demonstration.

In Santiago, 38 police officers were hurt as they battled stone-throwing protesters, the authorities said.

The demonstration often turns violent but this year tension was increased amid public anger over chaos caused by the capital's new transport system.

The yearly demonstration called Day of the Young Combatant marks the anniversary of the 1985 killing of two students by police during a demonstration against the military government of General Augusto Pinochet.

Parents

Roads were blocked in central Santiago, shops damaged, and in some neighbourhoods flaming barricades were erected.

Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in the centre of the capital.

It became the day of the young criminal Felipe Harboe Deputy Interior Minister

At least 819 people were arrested, the vast majority in Santiago. The authorities said this number was higher than in previous years.

A significant number of those detained were school students, many of them of them under 16 years of age, officials said.

"It became the day of the young criminal," Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe said.

He said people had been arrested for illegally carrying weapons, attempted robbery and damaging property.

The violence was unacceptable, Mr Harboe said, adding that the authorities would be pursuing parents to pay for the damage caused by their children.

Transport woes

This year's demonstration coincided with protests about the quality of a new public transport system and the speed of educational reforms.

The Transantiago system introduced in February has left large areas of the capital without public transportation.

President Michelle Bachelet, who has seen support for her government fall, sacked four ministers earlier this week and apologised for the chaos Santiago residents have had to endure.

Last year, hundreds when hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets of the capital to call for education reform and lower transport fares.