UPDATE Greece, paralysed by the third general strike. Protests get violent. 3 people die in fire

Miercuri, 5 mai 2010, 13:33 English | Top News

Greece is once again partially-paralysed on Wednesday by a general strike. this is the third once since February, organised by the big unions as a form of protest against the austerity measures imposed by the socialist government in exchanged for the financial help granted by the European Union and the IMF, AFP informs.

UPDATE 1 The police resorted to tear gas to dissolve a group of 50 protesters who were trying to enter the Parliament's building.

Protesters with faces covered threw a Molotov cocktail in a bank from centre Athens. The Police and Fire department are trying to evacuate around 20 persons trapped in the building, an eyewitness told Reuters.

At midnight, flights, maritime and rail transport stopped working.

The strike will include closing down schools and the public administration, while banks and the big private companies will work in slow motion. State hospitals provide only emergency support.

The country is also deprived of radio and TV broadcasts, with journalists joining the strike. The newspapers will not be printed on Thursday.

despite it all, public transport works in Athens between 10am and 6pm, in order to allow protesters to take part in the rallies announced by the two big unions, namely the Private sector income earners confederation (GSEE) - which counts over one million members -  and the Public sector income earners confederation (Adedy), which counts 370,000 members.