Police said two women and one man died at a branch of the Marfin bank which caught fire after hooded youths broke a window and hurled petrol bombs inside .
Police
police say woman man die branch marfin bank catch fire hooded youth break window hurl petrol bomb inside
<m> Police </m> said two women and one man died at a branch of the Marfin bank which caught fire after hooded youths broke a window and hurled petrol bombs inside .
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Three killed as rioters bomb Greek bank
May 5 , 2010
A firebomb attack on a bank in Greece killed at least three people today as police fought pitched battles with striking protesters furious at brutal budget cuts designed to avoid national bankruptcy .
Hooded youths hurled petrol bombs at stores and businesses in the centre of the capital , Athens , and demonstrators tried to storm parliament during the general strike , as the rioting spread to the northern city of Thessaloniki .
<m> Police </m> said two women and one man died at a branch of the Marfin bank which caught fire after hooded youths broke a window and hurled petrol bombs inside .
Around 20 more people had to be ushered to safety .
At least two other buildings , one used by tax officials , caught fire in other firebomb attacks on the margins of the protests .
Athens underground stations were shut and the international airport deserted as tens of thousands of union members rallied on the eve of a vote in parliament on the planned cuts and tax rises .
The general strike was the first major test of the Socialist government's resolve to push through unprecedented measures since agreeing an ? 110 billion ( Dh472 . 72bn ) debt bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund at the weekend .
Prime minister George Papandreou's insistence that the measures are vital for the nation's survival failed to dissuade unions from paralysing public transport and preventing ferries from leaving docks .
After rallying in two separate demonstrations in central Athens , members of the main unions began converging on parliament , where the government was preparing for the measures to be voted on Thursday .
"They're taking everything from me , I don't know how I'm going to get by , " said 61 - year - old Anargyros Bizianis , a municipal worker in the Athens suburb of Piraeus who earns ? 900 ( Dh4 , 275 ) a month .
As the protesters tried to break through a police line in front of parliament , they first hurled stones and bottles of water , prompting the riot squad officers to fire back with tear gas .
Full - scale clashes soon then erupted outside the building , with riot police trying to disperse the crowds with baton - charges .
During the unrest , one protester threw a petrol bomb .
Youths also went on the rampage in other parts of the capital , with several dozen youths hurling petrol bombs at stores and banks , and smashing shop windows and bus shelters with iron bars .
Athens police chiefs mobilised all their forces , including those not on active duty , by declaring a general state of alert .
The protesters in Thessaloniki targeted stores and banks in the city centre before they were dispersed by anti - riot police .
A group of about 200 communists had stormed the Athens Acropolis yesterday , unfurling banners reading "Peoples of Europe , Rise Up . "
The head of the million - member strong GSEE private sector union , Giannis Panagopoulos , said : "The Greek people have been called to make sacrifices while the rich pay nothing . "
A government official downplayed the unrest saying that "for years there's been strikes and protests in this country without much consequence . "
But markets reacted to the violence with alarm as Greek stocks plunged 5 . 4 per cent .
The government , pushed to the brink of default , agreed at the weekend to slash spending and jack up taxes in return for ? 110bn in loans over three years from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund .
Among the major measures , the government is to cut 13th and 14th month bonus pay for civil servants and retirees ; require three years more for pension contributions ; and raise the retirement age for women to 65 , the same level as men .
After months of hesitation , eurozone countries and the IMF agreed to lend Greece billions of euros at below market rates after concerns that the Athens government's debt crisis could trigger a knock - on effect elsewhere .
The German Chancellor , Angela Merkel , fighting accusations of holding up the bailout , said today that the Greek crisis underlined the need for an overhaul of the EU's fiscal rules .
"The future of Europe and the future of Germany within Europe is at stake , " she told a debate on Berlin's decision to lend ? 22 . 4bn to Greece .