Chile: three people died burnt in the fire of a supermarket looted

Three people died this Sunday morning in the worst riots in Chile, leaving dozens of shops looted and burned and leading the authorities to a decree curfew in three regions and deploy about 9,500 people in uniform.

The capitals Santiago, Valparaíso (center) and Concepción (south) were under a strong shelter for the military and the police after President Sebastián Piñera had decreed a curfew during the first hours of Sunday and until 10 o'clock local. without this avoiding acts of violence. The authorities have not indicated whether the measure would be extended by several days.

Three people died as a result of a fire in the middle of the looting of a big leader of the US supermarket Walmart, in southern Santiago, controlled by firefighters after two hours of firefighting.

The mayor (governor) of Santiago, Karla Rubilar, told reporters that two people had been burned, while a third had died later in the hospital.

Dozens of supermarkets, car dealerships and service stations were looted or burned, while sporadic demonstrations were reported in several municipalities in Santiago, authorities said. "We live very high level of crime, looting and looting"said Alberto Espina, Minister of Defense.

Meanwhile, at the airport of the Chilean capital, hundreds of people remained failed, many of them sleeping on the floor, near the cancellation or reprogramming of flights.

The Government has also deployed military personnel in the areas of O. Higgins and Coquimbo, also beaten by violence.

The demonstrations began on Friday because of the rise in the price of the Santiago metro, which uses every day about three million people, between 800 and 830 pesos.

A series of violent incidents in the subway stations have led the government to decree the state of emergency and to deploy soldiers on the streets for the first time since the return to democracy in Chile after the end of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1990.

When protests spilled over at several places in Santiago, with looting of commerce, clashes with police and army and fires at subway stations, Piñera He reversed and suspended the rise of the metro ticket on Saturday.

On Sunday, he will meet with his ministers and the authorities of other powers to discuss the situation. The president has also convened a "wide and transversal" dialogue table to resolve social demands that, for the moment, have neither a visible leader nor a precise list of requests.

Under the slogan "enough of abuse" and under the slogan of the social networks "ChileDespertó", the country faces many claims against an economic model in which access to health and safety is a priority. Education is virtually private and basic services are rising. The strength of the demonstrations has displaced the government of Piñera, which a few days ago had claimed that Chile was a kind of "oasis" in the region.

The government deployed about 8,000 uniformed personnel to monitor the situation and had to send 1,500 in the hours that followed, Minister Espina reported.

In addition to the metro station, the bus service has been temporarily suspended At least five units were burned in central Santiago, leaving its seven million inhabitants virtually without public transportation.

Some residents of Santiago went out peacefully in the streets to blow up their pots and pans, while campfires were lit in the suburbs.

Piñera acknowledged that there were "good reasons" to protest, but called "to demonstrate peacefully" and stated that "no one has the right to act with brutal criminal violence" in reference to the damage done to the Santiago Metro, of which 78 stations were vandalized. .
The government announced Monday the suspension of classes in schools in several municipalities of Santiago.