Child, 4, is among two people killed when ‘crazed drink driver’ mows through protesters in Chile

A four-year-old child was among two people who were killed in the latest round of protests in Chile, raising the death toll from five days of social unrest to 18. 

A top Chilean security official confirmed the death of the child and an adult man on Wednesday, which reportedly occurred when a crazed drink driver fatally struck them and injured a further 18 people after speeding into a crowd of protestors in San Pedro de la Paz in the city’s south.

Distressing footage showed the moment the car careered into the crowd before those who cheated death and serious injury and other angry onlookers vented their fury at the driver.  

He had to be helped by police after the demonstrators, who had ignored a curfew to block the road following days of unrest around the country sparked by an increase in public transport fares in the capital Santiago, jumped on his car roof and tried to lynch him after overturning the vehicle. 

A four-year-old child was among two people who were killed in the latest round of protests in Chile, raising the death toll from five days of social unrest to 18

Distressing footage showed the moment the car careered into the crowd before those who cheated death and serious injury and other angry onlookers vented their fury at the driver

Distressing footage showed the moment the car careered into the crowd before those who cheated death and serious injury and other angry onlookers vented their fury at the driver 

He had to be helped by police after the demonstrators, who had ignored a curfew to block the road following days of unrest around the country sparked by an increase in public transport fares in the capital Santiago, jumped on his car roof and tried to lynch him after overturning the vehicle

He had to be helped by police after the demonstrators, who had ignored a curfew to block the road following days of unrest around the country sparked by an increase in public transport fares in the capital Santiago, jumped on his car roof and tried to lynch him after overturning the vehicle

San Pedro de la Paz city hall confirmed in a statement 18 people had been injured and two killed.

It said: ‘One of the dead is a child.

‘Two women have multiple injuries, an adult and a child, and have been taken to a regional hospital. Eight people have minor injuries.’

Local reports said the unnamed driver had been drunk when he sped into the crowd and was three times over the limit. 

Regional governor Roberto Contreras, who visited the scene of the tragedy, said afterwards: ‘This is a situation we don’t want to experience.

Disturbing footage shows the moment a car fatally mowed into a crowd before angry protesters gathered round to attempt to lynch the driver, above and below

Disturbing footage shows the moment a car fatally mowed into a crowd before angry protesters gathered round to attempt to lynch the driver, above and below 

Local reports said the unnamed driver had been drunk when he sped into the crowd and was three times over the limit

Local reports said the unnamed driver had been drunk when he sped into the crowd and was three times over the limit

Regional governor Roberto Contreras, who visited the scene of the tragedy, said afterwards: 'This is a situation we don't want to experience'

Regional governor Roberto Contreras, who visited the scene of the tragedy, said afterwards: ‘This is a situation we don’t want to experience’

‘We hope people realise that in a state of emergency, during a curfew, they should be at home after 6pm.

‘If they had been at home there wouldn’t have been these deaths or injuries.’

The incident happened around 10.30pm local time on Tuesday on Route 160 in San Pedro de la Paz, a city and commune in Chile’s Biobio region around 300 miles southwest of the capital Santiago.

The adult who died was a 20-year-old named locally as Cardenio Bravo. The 34-year-old detainee has not yet been named.

An onlooker could be overheard in one video in the aftermath groaning: ‘Something terrible has just happened.

‘An idiot who’s just sped by has run over a load of people. What’s just occurred is unbelievable. There’s at least four or five people who have been hit. There’ll be people dead.’ 

Rioting, arson attacks and violent clashes paralysed Chile for a fifth day running on Tuesday in a wave of protests despite a military curfew. 

Riot police used tear gas and water cannons to break up marches by rock-throwing demonstrators in several parts of Santiago on Tuesday. 

The violence has damaged shops, banks and metro stations, and police and soldiers were yesterday guarding shoppers who formed long queues for milk at the stores which remained open.   

Yesterday Chile’s president announced a raft of measures to quell the unrest, which began as a protest over transport fares but has spiralled into a wider rebellion against social and economic woes. 

A police officer fires tear gas in Santiago yesterday on a fifth consecutive day of rioting and violence in Chile in a wave of protests against social and economic woes

A police officer fires tear gas in Santiago yesterday on a fifth consecutive day of rioting and violence in Chile in a wave of protests against social and economic woes

A masked man throws something into a blazing fire in Plaza Italia in Santiago where thousands of people have been protesting in recent days

A masked man throws something into a blazing fire in Plaza Italia in Santiago where thousands of people have been protesting in recent days

A crowd of people clamber on a monument in Santiago yesterday, many of them holding what appear to be musical instruments and others waving flags and placards

A crowd of people clamber on a monument in Santiago yesterday, many of them holding what appear to be musical instruments and others waving flags and placards 

Demonstrators challenge an armoured police vehicle spraying teargas during an anti-government march in Santiago on Tuesday

Demonstrators challenge an armoured police vehicle spraying teargas during an anti-government march in Santiago on Tuesday

Sebastian Pinera apologised for failing to see the unrest coming and said his government had ‘received with humility and clarity the message Chileans have given us’. 

‘I recognize this lack of vision and I apologise to my compatriots,’ Pinera said in an address from the presidential palace in Santiago.  

The violent clashes began last Friday after a four percent increase in metro fares prompted students in Santiago to jump over turnstiles in protest. 

Pinera quickly suspended the metro fare hike, but also declared that Chile was ‘at war against a powerful, implacable enemy’.  

He has now adopted a more conciliatory tone and promised a wave of reforms including a pension hike, lower healthcare costs and a minimum wage increase. 

Earlier in the day he met with the leaders of some of Chile’s opposition parties as he sought a way to stem the country’s worst violence in decades.  

About half of Chile’s 16 regions are under an emergency decree and some are under military curfew. 

A huge crowd of people demonstrate in Plaza Italia during an anti-government march in Santiago on Tuesday in a wave of protests which has prompted the Chilean president to promise a wave of social reforms

A huge crowd of people demonstrate in Plaza Italia during an anti-government march in Santiago on Tuesday in a wave of protests which has prompted the Chilean president to promise a wave of social reforms 

Anti-government demonstrators brace themselves behind shields as they are sprayed with a police water cannon

Anti-government demonstrators brace themselves behind shields as they are sprayed with a police water cannon

A demonstrator uses a slingshot at Plaza Italia during the fifth straight day of protest with a small fire in the background

A demonstrator uses a slingshot at Plaza Italia during the fifth straight day of protest with a small fire in the background

Demonstrators run past a burning pile of debris next to a graffitied wall in Santiago where protests have run for five days

Demonstrators run past a burning pile of debris next to a graffitied wall in Santiago where protests have run for five days

The curfew is the first – other than for natural disasters – imposed since the country returned to democracy in 1990 following a bloody 17-year dictatorship. 

Today Pope Francis launched an appeal Wednesday for dialogue and an end to violent protests in Chile.

‘I am following what is happening in Chile with concern,’ he said during a weekly general audience on Saint Peter’s Square.

‘I hope that by putting an end to violent demonstrations dialogue can be used to to find solutions to the crisis and confront the difficulties that have generated it, for the sake of the entire population. 

The government also started naming some of the dead on Tuesday. Nine had died in fires, one was electrocuted and five were shot, four of those by the security forces. 

Eleven of the fatalities were in the Santiago region, while a Peruvian and an Ecuadorian were among the dead.

A demonstrator wearing a helmet runs away from tear gas with litter strewn across the street during Tuesday's demonstration

A demonstrator wearing a helmet runs away from tear gas with litter strewn across the street during Tuesday’s demonstration

A demonstrator in distress is helped by other protesters on a street in Santiago with a small fire burning in the background

A demonstrator in distress is helped by other protesters on a street in Santiago with a small fire burning in the background

Police vehicles fire water cannon - one of them producing a colourful rainbow effect - over a barricaded street in Santiago

Police vehicles fire water cannon – one of them producing a colourful rainbow effect – over a barricaded street in Santiago

Masked demonstrators - one of them waving a flag - hide behind a barrier during clashes with riot police in the Chilean capital

Masked demonstrators – one of them waving a flag – hide behind a barrier during clashes with riot police in the Chilean capital

Chile’s human rights institute said more than 200 people had been taken to the hospital, almost half with gunshot wounds. 

Many others suffered eye injuries from pellets and more than 2,600 people have been detained since the unrest began.  

More than half of Santiago’s 136 metro stations suffered heavy damage during last week’s protests.

Around 50 schools and 10 universities in the capital remained closed on Tuesday but hospitals and clinics operated normally.

At Santiago’s international airport, South American airline giant LATAM brought out deck chairs for passengers stranded by flight cancelations caused by the protests.

Chile’s football association said it was suspending its professional leagues for a second successive weekend.   

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