SANTIAGO: Five people died Sunday when a garment factory was torched by looters near Santiago, bringing the death toll in a wave of unrest in Chile to seven as authorities extended a curfew into a second consecutive night. Police and the military fired tear gas and used water cannon against protesters in the capital as clashes over price hikes and social inequality raged through a third day. Soldiers have been deployed in the capital as well as the O’Higgins and Coquimbo regions that have experienced unrest. Louis de Grange, president of the state Metro S.A. company, told Canal 13 the “brutal destruction” of Santiago’s metro service had caused more than $300 million in damage. On Friday, the headquarters of the ENEL Chile power company and a Banco Chile branch – both in the center of Santiago – were set on fire and heavily damaged.

Source: New Strait Times October 20, 2019 23:26 UTC