48 Police officers who had been held hostage for a day were freed in southern Peru by demonstrators. The protesters located in the Moquegua, a state close to Peru's border with Chile, had taken hostages on Monday in the midst of their demonstrations for a greater share of revenue from mining. For close to a week, the protesters have blocked sections of the Pan American Highway.

According to Cnn.com and reports of the Peruvian News Agency from officers who had been taken hostage, the captors were in possession of rope and even suggested hanging the hostages at one point. Due to the confrontation between the authorities and those demonstrating left 20 civilians and 40 police officers injured.

According to authorities, all those who participated in the affair will have to pay for their actions in court as they had "committed a crime."