2 demonstrators die in Panama during latest protests over Canadian company's mining contract

Demonstrators tear down a police barricade during a protest against a recently approved mining contract between the government and Canadian mining company First Quantum, in Panama City, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

PANAMA CITY — Two people died Tuesday while participating in a third week of protests against a controversial government mining contract in Panama, officials confirmed.

One person was arrested in connection with the incident, Panama's attorney general said on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

Officials did not say how the demonstrators died while blocking a road in the east of the country, but local reports suggested they were shot by a driver attempting to get past the protest.

A video circulating on social media appeared to show the alleged attacker carrying a gun and removing a tire from the road blockade, while a body lies on the road nearby.

The deaths followed local reports that a demonstrator was run over and killed Nov. 1 by a foreigner attempting to cross a roadblock during a protest in the west of the country.

The contract, given final approval Oct. 20, allows the local subsidiary of Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals to continue operating an open-pit copper mine in a richly biodiverse jungle west of the capital for the next 20 years -- with the possibility of extending for a further 20 years if the mine remains productive.

Since protests began, the government nearly passed legislation that would have revoked the contract, but it backtracked in a late-evening debate at the National Assembly on Nov. 2.