1 killed, 17 hurt in Peru pipeline protest
March 27, 2012
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LIMA, Peru—Peru's national police chief says one person has been killed and 17 injured in a clash between police and demonstrators who blocked a bridge and hurled rocks at vehicles to protest a planned natural gas pipeline.
Gen. Raul Salazar says police tried to repel the protesters, many of them fishermen, in the northern coastal town of Sechura on Tuesday with tear gas but were forced to use firearms. He hasn't released details on how the 24-year-old victim died.
Salazar says some of the 600 protesters stormed the local police station, forcing officers to abandon the post. Police say six of the injured are police officers.
Sechura fishermen in particular oppose the pipeline, fearing it could hurt their livelihood.
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