Five people have died and over 60 others have been injured in protests of food shortage and high cost of living in Haiti, said media reports from Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital on Thursday.

Half of the injured people suffered bullet wounds during the protests, hospital sources were quoted as saying.

Protests and looting in the capital have lasted for three days due to food prices that rose some 50 percent over the past few months.

A certain degree of calm was restored in Port-au-Prince after a televised speech of Haitian President Rene Preval on Wednesday, who pledged to take emergency measures to resolve the problem, including offering subsidies for production of essentials like rice, milk and eggs, and cutting the average salary of officials.

Meanwhile, some violent protesters on Thursday were reportedly throwing rocks at installations of the UN Forces for Haiti's stabilization (MINUSTAH) and chanting slogans against the UN mission.

MINUSTAH was blamed by the local media for causing the food price hikes in this Caribbean country.

President Preval said the protests could block foreign investments and would do no good to solving the crisis.

Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America, has been particularly affected by rising prices for its people.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2008)