GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights boss Michelle Bachelet, a former President of Chile, called on Monday for independent investigations into deaths in weekend protests there, citing "disturbing allegations" of excessive use of force by security forces.
Bachelet said that at least 8 people had died and 44 were injured, nine of them seriously, with 283 detained, according to the National Human Rights Institution. In a statement she called for immediate dialogue and a halt to "inflammatory rhetoric".
Chilean authorities scrambled on Monday to clear wreckage and re-open public transportation in the capital Santiago after a weekend of chaos in which at least seven people were killed amid violent clashes, arson attacks and looting in cities throughout Chile.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay)