Three gunshot wounds and two arrested on Labor Day in Chile

At least three people were injured by gunshots, one of them seriously, and two other people were arrested in Santiago de Chile as part of the commemoration of Labor Day, police sources confirmed to Efe.

During a march called in the central neighborhood of Central Stationa group of people shot at demonstrators who gathered to commemorate the First of Mayresulting in gunshot wounds to three people.

One of them, a woman who worked for a community media outlet, was injured in the skull and is in vital danger, while a fourth person was hit in the head by a stone, they pointed out from the Carabineros body.

Three gunshot wounds and two arrested on Labor Day in Chile

During the march, the protesters allegedly took items from the street such as garbage and other objects to set up incendiary barricades, which could have sparked violence by a group of residents or workers from the neighborhood who fired the shots, according to the official account.

Two people were arrested in what was the first International Labor Day in the streets after two years of virtual commemorations for the pandemic.

In the area there were also looting, burning of public transport stops and incendiary barricades, reported from Carabineros.

Three gunshot wounds and two arrested on Labor Day in Chile

The disturbances took place in a minority march called by the Central Classista de Trabajadores, parallel to the more massive meeting normally called by the Unitary Central of Workers (CUT) Chile, which was made in a nearby area.

The CUT meeting brought together hundreds of people who marched without incident from the central Plaza Italia along the Alameda, which runs through Santiago, with little presence of police officers.

Three gunshot wounds and two arrested on Labor Day in Chile

The event, which ended with a musical show, was attended by several authorities, who highlighted popular demands such as the freezing of prices, the reform of the pension system and the increase in the minimum wage.

On this, the Minister of Labor, Jeanette Jaraannounced that the increase in the minimum wage from 350,000 pesos to 400,000 pesos -proposed by the Executive weeks ago- will take effect retroactively from this Sunday, if approved in Parliament.

Other specific marches were held in regions such as the coastal Valparaíso, which also passed without incident.

With information from EFE / Photos from Diego Reyes Vielma

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