Santiago, Oct 30 (IANS): The death toll in Chile's protests climbed to 20 and the number of injured stood at 400 during the state of emergency, the country's interior ministry has said.

The ministry on Tuesday said that hundreds of police officers and members of the armed forces were also injured during the protests, Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities recorded 1,227 serious incidents during the protests that started on October 19, including arson, looting and destruction of public and private properties.

About 455 police cars, 49 subway stations and 26 buses from the public transport system were damaged by the protesters.

During the curfew, 7,166 people were detained and 2,037 imprisoned.

On Monday, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera replaced eight ministers in response to the anti-government protests.

The demonstrations were sparked by a hike in subway fares and grew into a widespread movement against high living costs in the country.