- Title: GREECE: Bank set on fire as clashes continue in Athens
- Date: 6th May 2010
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (MAY 5, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE BELLOWING FROM BANK BUILDING WHICH WAS SET ALIGHT VARIOUS OF FIREMEN HELPING BANK WORKER WHO IS CLIMBING FROM WINDOW WOMAN'S FACE COVERED IN ASH FIREMEN AT BALCONY OF BANK SMOKE BELLOWING FROM BANK WINDOW INTERIOR OF BANK: SMASHED WINDOW/SMOKE RISING BURNED BANK EQUIPMENT FIREMEN AT WORK SMOKE BELLOWING FROM BURNED BANK BUILDING FIREMAN CLIMBING LADDER TO RESCUE WORKERS LADDER PLACED IN FRONT OF BANK SIGN READING: "Egtania Marfin" VARIOUS OF SMASHED WINDOW BURNED EQUIPMENT INSIDE BANK/SMOKE BELLOWING VARIOUS CLASHES AT PARLIAMENT BUILDING
- Embargoed: 21st May 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Greece
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA1B4AD1PNGA8FV7ASPCWTHQT5
- Story Text: Greek protesters clashed with police on Wednesday as tens of thousands of strikers marched against austerity plans in a crucial test of the government's resolve in enacting deep budget cuts in return for EU/IMF aid.
The riots are considered the largest since the crisis started.
A Greek bank was set on fire. Smoke bellowed from the Bank of Egtania Marfin after protesters attacked the building. The workers were evacuated through windows, while they waited for a rescue team to arrive.
The fire brigade said that three people died in a fire set by Greek protesters in central Athens, there was no confirmation that it was the Bank fire.
"We have found three dead people in the building that is on fire," The fire brigade said in a statement.
Elsewhere, hundreds of demonstrators pelted police with rocks, chunks of marble and bottles, lit garbage cans on fire and tried repeatedly to storm parliament. But they were repelled by riot police hurling repeated rounds of tear gas that clouded up blocks of central Athens.
Masked youths threw petrol bombs, broke shop windows and shouted "Murderers" and "Burn the parliament", in a sign of swelling public anger at the government's plans for painful wage and pension cutbacks.
A giant plume of dark grey smoke rose over the central Stadiou Avenue, where a commercial building was burning. The fire brigade was evacuating people trapped on balconies.
Police estimated the march at about 27,000 but eyewitnesses said there were at least 40,000, easily the biggest protest since Greece was first hit by a debt crisis late last year.
Public and private sector workers are staging their third joint strike this year. They have grounded flights, shut shops and brought public transport to a standstill.
Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou submitted an austerity bill to parliament on Tuesday that envisages 30 billion euros ($40 billion) in new savings through deep cuts in wages and pensions and a rise in value-added tax (VAT).
The conservative opposition has vowed to vote against the bill, dooming hopes of a national political consensus on the measures. The government enjoys a comfortable majority in parliament and expects to pass the legislation this week. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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