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Police break up Caracas student protest
January 30, 1998
Web posted at: 5:11 a.m. EST (1011 GMT)CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan students threw rocks and sticks at police Thursday, protesting the price of the bus fare and a lack of facilities.
Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
"We are protesting because of the price of the bus fare and because they don't want to put pools or anything here," a student said.
About 25 students began the day by holding a protest outside their school, burning tires and blocking traffic. Riot police arrived and fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The students took refuge inside the school, but police followed them and shot tear gas in the building's patio, affecting most of the 250 students inside the school.
According to police, the rioting students had taken three vehicles inside the school and had planned to burn them.
"Two of our officers were injured, including the commander of the district, but we don't know how severe it was," an unidentified policeman said.
There were no confirmed reports of arrests or injuries to the students.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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