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Athens burns as austerity protests take toll
Source: Agencies |
February 14, 2012, Tuesday
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FIREFIGHTERS doused smoldering buildings and cleanup crews swept rubble from the streets of central Athens yesterday following a night of rioting during which Greek lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the nation from bankruptcy.
Rioters destroyed or seriously damaged 93 buildings, the Athens municipality said, while police said at least 45 were burned in the capital.
They included nine listed as national heritage buildings, mostly in the neoclassical style, while dozens of stores and cafes were smashed and looted.
Smoke still rose from the gutted remains of an 1870 building which had housed one of the Greek capital's most loved cinemas, the Attikon, since 1916.
"Criminals targeted all that was best in the city of Athens, its neoclassical monuments," said Thanassis Davakis, the Conservatives' cultural policy chief. "The damage must be swiftly redressed and the city's memory restored."
The stench of tear gas still hung in the air yesterday morning, choking passers-by, while traffic lights at many major intersections were out after being smashed. The municipality said cleanup crews had gathered an estimated 40 tons of broken marble and rocks from the streets of the center, while railings, drainage covers and paving stones from sidewalks also suffered extensive damage.
More than 170 people were hurt in the rioting which also broke out in other Greek cities. Authorities said 106 police needed medical care after being injured by gasoline bombs, rocks and other objects hurled at them, while at least 70 protesters were also hospitalized.
Police arrested at least 74 people and detained 92 others.
Athens Traders' Association head Panaghis Karellas demanded the dismissal of Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis, and said afflicted shopowners should receive state compensation.
The rioting began on Sunday afternoon after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the parliament ahead of a vote on drastic austerity measures that include axing one in five civil service jobs over the next three years and slashing the minimum wage by more than a fifth. Lawmakers approved the bill in a 199-74 vote.
The vote was crucial for the country to secure 130 billion euros (US$172 billion) in new rescue loans and avoid a potentially catastrophic default next month - bankruptcy could push Greece out of Europe's euro currency union, drag down other troubled eurozone countries and further roil global markets.
The new bailout deal, which is yet to be finalized, will be combined with a massive bond swap deal to write off half the country's privately held debt, reducing Greece's debt load by about 100 billion euros.
Rioters destroyed or seriously damaged 93 buildings, the Athens municipality said, while police said at least 45 were burned in the capital.
They included nine listed as national heritage buildings, mostly in the neoclassical style, while dozens of stores and cafes were smashed and looted.
Smoke still rose from the gutted remains of an 1870 building which had housed one of the Greek capital's most loved cinemas, the Attikon, since 1916.
"Criminals targeted all that was best in the city of Athens, its neoclassical monuments," said Thanassis Davakis, the Conservatives' cultural policy chief. "The damage must be swiftly redressed and the city's memory restored."
The stench of tear gas still hung in the air yesterday morning, choking passers-by, while traffic lights at many major intersections were out after being smashed. The municipality said cleanup crews had gathered an estimated 40 tons of broken marble and rocks from the streets of the center, while railings, drainage covers and paving stones from sidewalks also suffered extensive damage.
More than 170 people were hurt in the rioting which also broke out in other Greek cities. Authorities said 106 police needed medical care after being injured by gasoline bombs, rocks and other objects hurled at them, while at least 70 protesters were also hospitalized.
Police arrested at least 74 people and detained 92 others.
Athens Traders' Association head Panaghis Karellas demanded the dismissal of Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis, and said afflicted shopowners should receive state compensation.
The rioting began on Sunday afternoon after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the parliament ahead of a vote on drastic austerity measures that include axing one in five civil service jobs over the next three years and slashing the minimum wage by more than a fifth. Lawmakers approved the bill in a 199-74 vote.
The vote was crucial for the country to secure 130 billion euros (US$172 billion) in new rescue loans and avoid a potentially catastrophic default next month - bankruptcy could push Greece out of Europe's euro currency union, drag down other troubled eurozone countries and further roil global markets.
The new bailout deal, which is yet to be finalized, will be combined with a massive bond swap deal to write off half the country's privately held debt, reducing Greece's debt load by about 100 billion euros.
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