The Peruvian Ministry of Culture has closed Machu Picchu due to anti-government protests, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded outside the Inca fortress amid deadly turmoil, according to the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday.
"Due to the social situation and to ensure the safety of visitors, the closure of the Inca trails network and the Machu Picchu citadel has been ordered," the ministry said in a statement.
Peru has been rocked by protests since President Pedro Castillo was deposed in December after attempting to dismiss the legislature in order to prevent an impeachment vote.
Until this week, the upheaval had been centred in Peru's south.
Thousands of demonstrators descended in Lima this week, calling for change and enraged by the protests' mounting death toll, which reached 45 yesterday, as per local media reports.
Dozens of Peruvians were injured Friday night when police battled with protestors in the country's anti-government demonstrations, which are spreading across the country.
As fires raged in the streets of Lima, police officers deployed tear gas to disperse demonstrators who were throwing glass bottles and stones.
As per Interior Minister Vicente Romero, some 1,500 protestors besieged a police station in the town of Ilave in the country's southern Puno area, the report said.
According to Romero, a police station in Zepita, Puno, was also on fire, the report added.
Eight persons were hospitalised in Ilave due to injuries such as broken arms and legs, eye contusions, and pierced abdomens, according to health officials, as per the report.
According to a report from Peru's Ombudsman, 58 people had been injured in demonstrations across the country by late afternoon.
The upheaval came after a day of turbulence on Thursday, when one of Lima's most ancient buildings burned to the ground, prompting President Dina Boluarte to threaten stronger punishment for "vandals."
(With Inputs From Agencies)