Chile’s capital saw fresh clashes break out yesterday in the second day of a national strike in support of student protests demanding education reforms.

Authorities said 42 police officers were injured and 108 protesters arrested during the night, a day after a series of clashes where 36 people were hurt and 348 arrested in the worst unrest of Sebastian Pinera’s 17-month old Presidency.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators were gathered in the centre of the capital near the Presidential palace, but much of the city was deserted as police removed barricades left by the protesters.

Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla said six police offers were injured by gunfire in the clashes, mainly in the capital. Among those arrested, 17 were for looting.

“This is not a positive outcome,” Mr Ubilla said yesterday. “This is violence, stemming from people who are trying to disrupt public order.”

The strike was called by Chile’s leading labour union, the 780,000-strong Confederacion General de Trabajadores (CGT), in support of university student demands for far-reaching education reforms that would eliminate a voucher system that supports private universities and provide free, higher quality university education at state schools.

The protests on Wednesday and yesterday also included demands for improved working conditions for hospital and emergency services workers.

In the demonstrations supporting students who have been holding weeks of smaller protests and demanding education reforms, protesters set bonfires to block access to major roads and threw stones at passing buses shattering windows in the vehicles.

Police responded firmly using water cannons and tear gas to break up roadblocks on main thoroughfares.

Mr Pinera accused strike organisers of “trying to hurt Chile”.

“A protest march is one thing, it is quite another thing to attempt to paralyse the country,” he said. “When the country is paralysed, nobody wins, everybody loses.”