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| Pascal Rosignol/Reuters |
Nicholas Paphitis and
Derek Gatopolous
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece — Protesters clashed with riot police across Athens on Wednesday, torching cars, hurling gasoline bombs and sending Christmas shoppers fleeing in panic during a general strike against the government’s latest austerity measures.
Police fired tear gas and flash grenades as the violence escalated outside parliament and spread to other parts of the capital.
Angry unions triggered the 24-hour strike to protest new labor reforms and pay cuts as Greece struggles to reshape its economy under conditions set by a euro110 billion ($146 billion) international bailout. The strike also grounded flights, closed factories, disrupted hospitals and shut down trains, ferries and buses across the country.
It was the seventh strike this year by unions appalled at a wave of austerity policies meant to pull Greece out of its worst financial crisis since World War II.
In Athens, youths wearing black masks and ski goggles used sledgehammers to smash paving stones and hurled the rubble at police. A post office near parliament briefly caught fire, forcing employees and bystanders to run for safety.
Christmas shoppers fled as rioters hurled petrol bombs wrapped in bundles of firecrackers, causing small explosions when they landed. Rioting youths torched several cars, overturned trash bins and vandalized storefronts, tossing Christmas decorations into the street.
At least 10 people were detained Wednesday and five were hurt, including a conservative politician who was beaten in the street by protesters. Two people were injured in Athens and three in Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki, where another anti-austerity protest turned violent.
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