Lima (EFE).- At least 76 people injured during the anti-government protests in January in Peru are hospitalized to be treated for their injuries, the Ministry of Health reported this Friday on its social networks.
The institution published on its Twitter account that, from January 4 (the date on which the protests resumed after a Christmas truce), until this Friday, 76 who were injured remain in the hospital, of which 40 are in the southern department of Puno.
Monday, January 9, was the bloodiest day in which 17 protesters lost their lives in clashes with law enforcement in the city of Juliaca, the most populous city in Puno, a border region with Bolivia.
The rest of those hospitalized are distributed in Lima (17), Arequipa (13), Cuzco (3), Huancavelica (1), La Libertad (1) and Tacna (1).
The ministry added that since January 4 there have been 303 medical discharges: 197 in Puno, 64 in Cuzco, 20 in Lima, eight in La Libertad, eight in Arequipa, two in Apurímac, two in Junín, one in Huancavelica and one in Tacna.
He also called for calm and expressed his commitment to attend to the health of all people.
Violent day of protests in Peru
Protests calling for the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress and the calling of elections and a constituent assembly have left 44 demonstrators and a police officer dead, while 14 other people, including an unborn baby and four Haitians, have died from various causes caused by roadblocks.
This Thursday, strikes and road blockades were called throughout the country, in addition to the great march in the country’s capital, called the “take of Lima”, which was attended by thousands of Peruvians.
The protest took place relatively peacefully and did not have a “social cost” of deaths, as the ombudsman, Eliana Revollar, acknowledged this Friday, despite the fact that there were two deaths in other parts of the country.
When taking stock of the march, Revollar told the RPP radio station that “it has been a quiet day, there has been no social cost in deaths,” although there have been “injuries and detainees.”
“In the capital, it has been a day that has been carried out within the margins, apart from the fire,” which occurred in a mansion in the historic center, a World Heritage Site, he noted.
On the other hand, the ombudsman reported that, on Thursday, “two people lost their lives” in the southern cities of Macusani, in the Puno region, and in Arequipa, as a result of clashes with law enforcement. in the protests that took place in various parts of the territory.
Fire control continues
The firefighters continue this Friday working to extinguish a large house in the center of Lima, declared a World Heritage Site in 1991, which caught fire on Thursday during clashes between anti-government protesters and the Police.
The work is focused on putting out the embers of the fire that devastated the building, built to a large extent with wood and thatch (an old cane or bamboo framework covered with mud) and which is collapsing little by little, according to EFE.
The Minister of Culture, Leslie Urteaga, explained to the press that they are still investigating the reasons why the house, located a few meters from the iconic Plaza San Martín, caught fire.
Near the building, Marco Antonio Villalobos, a resident of the area, explained to EFE that he was able to see how, minutes before the fire, a tear gas bomb fell on the roof during the clashes and, shortly after, the fire started.
“This entire part was full of tear gas (…) It is as if they had fired lightning because everything caught fire too quickly,” he stressed about the start of the fire.
Villalobos also explained that they have spent the night on the street, out in the open, since they have not received any kind of help from the authorities, despite living in the sector and having had to leave their homes for safety.
