Three Reported Killed in Greek Protests

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/world/europe/06greece.html?src=me

ATHENS — Demonstrations against tough new austerity measures in Greece claimed their first fatalities on Wednesday with three people reported to have died inside a bank building set ablaze by protesters. The reports came as workers across Greece went on strike over deep spending cuts and new taxes aimed at staving off economic collapse.

Tear gas billowed across the central Sintagma Square in front of Parliament as demonstrators trying to storm the Parliament building hurled rocks, paving stones and gasoline bombs. Police responded with tear gas canisters that spread a choking pall of smoke. Fire fighters extinguished blazes in two buildings and protesters threw up barricades, setting fire to cars and a fire truck, news reports said.

Tens of thousands of people had converged on the city center as part of a general strike that paralyzed flights, ferries, schools and hospitals.

At one point, Reuters reported, protesters set fire to a building and a witness saw firemen evacuate at least four people. “There are probably people trapped in the building,” fire officials said in a statement before the news emerged that people trapped in the building had died. The police blamed what were called “hooded youths” for setting fire to the building.

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