Nearly 200 injured in Algeria anti-government protests, including 'former prime minister's son'

At least 183 people were injured in protests in Algeria's capital on Friday, authorities said, including the son of the country's former prime minister, with demonstrations against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika intensifying.

It comes as resistance grows against ailing Bouteflika's bid for a fifth-term in power with tens thousands taking to the streets calling on the 82-year-old president to step down.

The protests were peaceful but small clashes erupted between them and police close to the presidential palace.

Officials reported that one person in his fifties died of a heart attack during the protests.

Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui claimed the man who was killed Hassan Benkhedda, the son of the former Prime Minister Benyoucef Benkhedda.

"The forensic medical investigations will clarify causes and circumstances of his death," the interior minister said in a tweet, according to Al Jazeera.

In a seperate statement, the minister said the man was in his fifties and killed in clashes between police and "thugs unrelated to the protesters".

Benkhedda's brother Salim, said Hassan took part in protests and was killed by Algeria's "ruling gang and its thugs".

Demonstrations on this scale are rare in Algeria, which suffered a brutal decade-long civil war in the 1990s, which saw hundreds of thousands killed.

Bouteflika has ruled Algeria since 1999, tightening the screws on the country with an all-powerful security state.

On Saturday, the president fired his campaign manager and on the same day hired a new one.

There was no reason why Abdelmalek Sellal was replaced as campaign manager

Bouteflika is believed to have been suffering from ill health since suffering a stroke in 2013.

Agencies contributed to this story.