Greek police clash with residents in landfill protest

Greek police clash with residents in landfill protest

2011-03-30 06:04:10 GMT+7 (ICT)

ATHENS (BNO NEWS) -- Greek riot police on Tuesday clashed with hundreds of residents protesting against the construction of a landfill in Athens, the Kathimerini newspaper reported.

Riot police were deployed near Keratea, southeast of Athens, to oversee the removal of a large pile of rubble in the area, which was piled by residents on Monday. Protesters set fire to a bulldozer sent to clear the road of rubble and hurled firebombs and rocks at riot officers.

Police retaliated by firing tear gas to disperse the angry crowd, while six riot police buses were sent to the site to fortify an already strong police presence. Four officers were reportedly injured in the clashes though it remained unclear how many protesters had been hurt.

Constantinos Levantinis, the mayor of Lavreotiki - a municipality comprising Keratea and two other towns - expressed concern about the violence and called for an immediate solution to the problem.

The residents, who have been violently protesting the planned construction of the landfill in their area for the past three months, were allegedly reacting to news reports that authorities were planning to send in bulldozers to start the project. Interior Minister Yiannis Ragousis said in an interview with Kathimerini over the weekend that the the construction of the landfill would go ahead despite the protests.

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