Protesters and police have clashed on the outskirts of the Chilean capital Santiago amid tension over food shortages during lockdown.

Local television showed police using tear gas and water cannon to quell unrest on the streets of El Bosque, where poverty is high, BBC reported.

President Sebastián Piñera, in a televised address after the protests, pledged to get food to those in need.

Chile has more than 46,000 cases of Covid-19 so far, with 478 deaths.

A recent surge in cases prompted the national capital to go under a strict and total lockdown this weekend.