2 Protesters Slain During Chilean Riots : Transport Workers Paralyze Santiago in Mass Shutdown

SANTIAGO, Chile — Transport workers demanding the restoration of democracy in Chile stopped work today, paralyzing public transportation, and two demonstrators were shot dead.

A 13-year-old girl was also shot dead by soldiers as she went to buy bread in the shanty town of Los Copihues, the girl’s mother said.

A powerful bomb exploded near army offices in the city center, injuring seven passers-by, police said, while dozens of minor blasts were heard in Santiago throughout the night.

At least two youths were shot to death in protests in outlying slum areas, where residents set fire to car tires to block traffic, police and other reports said.

Police confirmed the death of a 24-year-old accountant who was shot Tuesday night while digging a ditch across a street in a southside shanty town called La Victoria.

21-Year-Old Slain

A 21-year-old youth was shot dead and another badly wounded early this morning when soldiers opened fire on a group of people in an eastside slum, a priest said.

The death of the two demonstrators raised to three the number killed in the disobedience campaign.

Troops in armored cars and army trucks patrolled militant areas, firing warning shots over demonstrators as police worked to clear away barricades, residents said.

President Augusto Pinochet’s 12-year-old military government warned that it would deploy troops to back up police in quelling protests called by the Civilian Assembly, a coalition of 18 professional guilds and labor unions.

‘Civil Disobedience’

The transportation shutdown was the second day of a two-day “civil disobedience” by the Civilian Assembly demanding an end to Pinochet’s military rule.

Doctors, teachers and university professors struck Monday, halting services, and the transport shutdown today left thousands of people stranded.