About 100 government supporters have burst into Venezuela’s opposition-controlled National Assembly, where they beat up several lawmakers, BBC reports.
About 350 people were besieged for hours, the assembly’s speaker told BBC.
He added that 108 journalists, as well as students and visitors, were among those stuck inside the assembly.
The speaker also stated the names of five of the lawmakers injured, saying some were taken away for medical treatment.
Witnesses said the confrontation came after an assembly session to mark the country’s Independence Day.
Military police guarding the site stood by as intruders brandishing sticks and pipes broke through the gate.
Venezuela has been shaken by often violent protests in recent months and is in economic crisis.
“This does not hurt as much as seeing every day how we are losing our country,” deputy Armando Armas told reporters as he got into an ambulance, his head swathed in bloody bandages.
The US state department condemned the violence, calling it “an assault on the democratic principles cherished by the men and women who struggled for Venezuela’s independence 206 years ago today”.
photo credit: BBC