Police bus torched in Chile clashes

Protesters in southern Chile overturn and set fire to a police bus.

Ongoing demonstrations calling for increased social benefits in the city of Aysen turned violent, with police firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon at protesters and residents.

One man says police burst into his house and beat him.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED AYSEN RESIDENT AND PROTESTER, SAYING:

"I thought they weren't going to come in here but four of them came in. They hit me with sticks and kicked me, flat-out kicks, nothing else but that, they were blows with their feet and they split my head open, my lip, everything."

Protests started in the Aysen region of Patagonia on February 17 and have triggered concurrent demonstrations in the capital Santiago.

Community and workers' organisations are demanding better health care, fuel subsidies, education, and other infrastructure improvements for the region.

Nick Rowlands, Reuters.