Over 50 injured in Peru protests

Police clear a street during anti-government protests in Lima. Pic/AP

Dozens of Peruvians were injured after tensions flared again on Friday night as police clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations that are spreading across the country. In the capital Lima, police officers used tear gas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets, local TV footage showed.

In the country's southern Puno region, some 1,500 protesters attacked a police station in the town of Ilave, Interior Minister Vicente Romero said in a statement to news media. A police station in Zepita, Puno, was also on fire, Romero said. Health authorities in Ilave reported eight patients hospitalised with injuries, including broken arms and legs, eye contusions and punctured abdomens. By late afternoon, 58 people had been injured nationwide in demonstrations.

The unrest followed a day of turmoil, when one of Lima's most historic buildings burned to the ground, as President Dina Boluarte vowed to get tougher on "vandals." The destruction of the building, a near-century-old mansion in central Lima, was described by officials as the loss of a "monumental asset."

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Authorities are investigating the causes. Romero on Friday claimed the blaze was "duly planned and arranged." Thousands of protesters descended on Lima this week calling for change and angered by the protests' mounting death toll, which officially stood at 45 on Friday. Protests have rocked Peru since President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December, after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.

"It's nationwide chaos, you can't live like this. We are in a terrible uncertainty - the economy, vandalism," said Lima resident Leonardo Rojas. The government has extended a state of emergency to six regions, curtailing some civil rights. Human rights groups have accused the police and army of using deadly firearms. The police say protesters have used weapons and homemade explosives.

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