At least 25 people were injured during clashes between Chilean police and local people on Easter Island yesterday.

Witnesses say police fired pellets as they tried to evict several indigenous inhabitants from buildings they occupied earlier this year. The Rapa Nui group say the buildings were illegally taken from their ancestors several generations ago.

Easter Island, which was annexed by Chile in 1888, is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The tiny island has a population of 4,000 but is best known for its ancient giant carved stone heads, known as Moais.

Chilean security forces began their operation in the early hours of the morning, say reports. When the group refused to leave and others gathered at the scene, they opened fire with pellet guns.

Officials said 17 police officers and eight civilians had been injured. But the Rapa Nui put the number of injured locals at 19, and denied that any police had been hurt.

"They injured at least 23 of our brothers and sisters, three of them seriously," Edi Tuki, a relative of one of those injured, told the Efe news agency. "One was shot in the eye with a buckshot pellet from just a metre away."