Five children in Bocas del Toro, Panama may have died from complications caused by exposure to tear gas fired by police at demonstrators during demonstrations against Law 30 in July.
The revelation comes in a report from the Office of the Ombudsman based on documents provided by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.
The cause of death of the five children were all due to “lung problems,” the report stated, and added the problems may have been related to the inhalation of tear gas. The agency is still waiting for the results of toxicological tests that have not yet been completed.
The report also reveals that 716 people, including 44 police were injured during the riots.
Two people were permanently blinded because of injuries. Two people were killed by police bullets, a figure acknowledged by the government, although some investigators place the figure higher.