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West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has described his terrifying gun-point ordeal in his native Chile.

Former Manchester City manager Pellegrini was mugged with his wife Carola Pucci by armed robbers in Santiago on Saturday evening as they arrived for a meal with friends.

Two thugs jumped out a stolen Porsche Cayenne, which was later found abandoned, before grabbing Pucci's handbag.

The 64-year-old Pellegrini reacted angrily by "throwing himself" at one of the thieves before a gun was pointed at him - which was later fired in the air.

(Image: Eamonn and James Clarke)

(Image: Manuel Pellegrini/Twitter)

Pellegrini was quoted in El Mercurio as saying at a private Q&A on Monday night: “I parked the car, walked for about 40 metres, then two masked men got out of a car and jumped on my wife to grab her handbag, then came over to me and I reacted.

“I threw myself on the guy, and that made him stop, but then he came back to me and pushed his gun on me, pointed it at me and fire into the air. The bullet hit a building.

“If he had pushed the gun into me first, I wouldn’t have moved. But by luck he pointed it at me but then decided to shoot it into the air, perhaps because he could hear the police running towards us, or because the other guy told him not to shoot, or because he recognised me, I don’t know.”

(Image: T13/Youtube) (Image: T13/Youtube)

But despite his heroic act, Pellegrini insists he wasn't "courageous".

“What I did wasn’t the reaction of a courageous person, just a reaction of self-defence," Pellegrini said.

Pellegrini, who took over at the Hammers last month, also hit out at the standard of security in Chile's capital, although praised the quick response from law enforcers.

(Image: West Ham United FC/Getty) (Image: West Ham United FC)

He said: “What happened to me on Saturday night was something inexplicable. It was quite early, around 9pm, in an area full of restaurants and bars. From abroad, I had heard about the increasing insecurity in Chile.

“It’s such a pity because Chile always used to be a safe country, and I have always come back during the last 20 years. I don’t believe this is a political problem, but a social one, and something has to be done to stop it.”