About 2,000 people gathered Friday in Santiago de Chile, in the Place d’Italie, the epicenter of Chilean social protest, for a demonstration against inequalities during which a young man was seriously injured.
The protesters, opposed to the government of conservative President Sebastian Piñera since the movement began on October 18, 2019, faced the police, who dispersed them using tear gas and their armored trucks armed with water cannons to prevent them from occupying the place.
During the clashes between some of the demonstrators and the police, a young man fell into the Mapocho River, probably when he was escaping the police.
As of yet, the circumstances of his fall into the river are unclear, but it has been reported that he is in serious condition from the height from which he fell. The young man was taken care of by doctors and firefighters and taken to a hospital.
“During the incidents around Piazza Baquedano (the other name for Place d’Italie) and for reasons that are under investigation, a person fell into the Mapocho River from the Pio Nono Bridge . A complaint is lodged with the prosecutor, ”indicated the Carabineros, the Chilean police, via their Twitter account.
Authorities confirmed that 16 people were arrested and four officers were injured.
During these demonstrations, which began almost a year ago, on October 18, 2019, to demand more social rights, around thirty people died, thousands of people were injured and arrested.
A constitutional referendum will be organized on October 25, 2020 to determine whether to change the Constitution, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).