12 Shot, 100 Hurt in Rioting Over Panama Bus Fares
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PANAMA CITY — Twelve people were shot and more than 100 were treated for injuries here after protests against a hike in bus fares turned ugly, officials said Thursday.
Thousands of stone-throwing students and workers battled with police and looted stores late into the night Wednesday in what officials described as the worst outbreak of street violence in Panama since a U.S. invasion in 1989.
Police said they arrested 67 people, including 16 minors.
The national police said that an officer was among the 12 people shot and that four other policemen had been injured. Panama’s Red Cross treated 102 people for injuries, the majority for smoke inhalation.
The trouble flared as protesters, angered by a 66% hike in bus fares last week, tried to storm barriers around the presidential palace in Panama City’s old quarter.
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