Fire and blood on the streets of Athens

Protesters clash with riot police in Athens on Wednesday.
Athens, Greece - Angry protest turned to tragedy on Athens' streets today.
Demonstrators threw a petrol bomb into the Marfin Egnantia Bank in Central Athens. Three employees were killed in the blaze, two women and a man. The civil protection ministry just told us that one of the women was pregnant.
Outside crowds watched the firemen work, as riot police guarded the water-drenched remains of the building's ground floor. Protesters threw bottles at them. "Liars, torturers," they shouted.
"I don't believe anyone was killed," one demonstrator told me. "I'll believe it when I see it."
The Prime Minister George Papandreou issued a statement. "Protest is one thing, murder another," he said. He vowed to bring those responsible to justice. Outside the parliament building, graffiti sprayed on the ground read "George get out."
We spent the early part of the morning with Alexandra Lekka, a secondary school teacher who stands to lose 150 euros a month from the new austerity measures.
I just called her, to find out her reaction to the killings. "I cannot breathe. We are all frozen now," she said. "Everybody is very sad and very angry. I don't know what is going to happen."
I am often asked on air how this mess will resolve itself. It is a question the Greek people, the Greek government, EU leaders and the financial markets don't have an answer to. Now Greek society is not just angry but traumatized. It is a terrible combination.
Posted by: CNN Correspondent, Diana Magnay
Filed under: General


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