Crews in Greece clean up after riot

Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece

Firefighters doused smoldering buildings, and cleanup crews swept rubble from the streets of central Athens on Monday after a night of rioting during which lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the nation from bankruptcy.

Police said rioters destroyed or damaged more than 110 buildings, of which 50 were burned. They included nine listed as national heritage buildings, mostly in the neoclassical style, while 30 stores were looted.

Smoke still rose from the remains of a landmark 1870 building that had housed one of the capital’s most loved cinemas, the Attikon, since 1916. About 100 people had a candlelight protest outside the gutted structure late Monday.

“Criminals targeted all that was best in the city of Athens, its neoclassical monuments,” said Thanassis Davakis, cultural-policy chief of the conservative New Democracy party, a coalition government partner. “The damage must be swiftly redressed and the city’s memory restored.”

The stench of tear gas still hung in the air Monday, choking passersby, while traffic lights at many major intersections were out after being smashed. The Athens 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 109 police needed medical care after being injured by gasoline bombs, rocks and other objects hurled at them, and at least 70 protesters were hospitalized.

Police arrested 79 people — including a 14-year-old — and detained an additional 92, while in several cases they had to escort fire crews to burning buildings after hooded and masked protesters prevented access, injuring four firefighters. Police also said they were investigating a complaint from a businessman that rioters demanded money to leave his establishment intact.