A JOURNALIST in Nicaragua has been shot dead while doing a live broadcast about anti-government protests.

Angel Gahona was reporting on damage at a bank in the Caribbean coast town of Bluefields when a bullet hit him during his Facebook Live newscast.

Video footage shows Gahona describing a damaged cash machine before a shot rings out, leaving him falling to the ground and bleeding. It is unclear who shot him or why.

At least ten people have died and hundreds have been injured in days of protests against pension changes approved by the government of President Daniel Ortega on April 18.

The move increased pension contributions for workers and employers and reduced overall benefits by five per cent.

Ortega has offered talks but protest leaders say police violence must stop first.

Government buildings have been damaged or set on fire, and troops have been deployed in several cities in a wave of protests which are the biggest challenge to Ortega’s authority since he took office in 2007.

Amnesty International said the authorities had been carrying out a “terrifying clampdown on dissent”.