Riot police have clashed with hundreds of squatters being evicted from an abandoned building in Buenos Aires in Argentina's worst street violence since anti-government riots broke out seven months ago.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas as squatters tore down metal barriers and threw stones at a nearby police station on the streets of the old San Telmo quarter, renowned for its expensive antique shops, cafes and tango dancing.
Water canon vehicles and baton-wielding police blocked off a main artery into the city that runs past the large building - a former children's home - just a 10-minute walk from the presidential palace.
A spokesman for the city's health department said 45 people suffered mostly light injuries, while local media reported around 50 people had been arrested. Police declined comment.
One elderly woman who was evicted from the building sobbed, "I don't have thousands of pesos to buy a house."
City authorities wanted to clear out the building and demolish it, arguing it could fall down and injure the squatters, some of whom had lived in the deserted structure for 15 years.
As Argentina struggles with its worst economic crisis in a century, squatter settlements have multiplied across the city, once dubbed the "Paris of South America."
Tuesday's clash between police and squatters appeared to be an isolated incident and squatters elsewhere in the city were left unchallenged by police.
It was the worst civil unrest to hit Argentine capital since June when two people were killed in clashes with police in anti-government protests that forced President Eduardo Duhalde to move up elections to April 27.