Tens of thousands of outraged Greeks took to the streets on Wednesday to protest harsh new spending cuts aimed at saving their country from bankruptcy. Workers walked off the job in a 24-hour nationwide general strike, which later turned deadly.
ROBERT SIEGEL, Host: From NPR News, it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, Host: NPR's Sylvia Poggioli has the latest from Athens.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Three bank workers, two women and a man, died of asphyxiation when masked youths set fire to their bank during today's protest rally. Four other people were hospitalized with severe injuries. Addressing parliament, Prime Minister George Papandreou denounced what he called the murder of the three bank workers.</s>GEORGE PAPANDREOU: (Speaking foreign language)</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: These were conditions set by the International Monetary Fund and European Union in exchange for a $145 billion bailout over the next three years. Unions responded by calling for a nationwide general strike. And today, tens of thousands of Greeks took to the streets - a normal occurrence in a country used to protest rallies.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: These marches started off peacefully with leftist and communist militants shouting slogans against politicians.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Approaching parliament they shouted: Democracy, not plutocracy. And thieves, thieves. Young law student Panos Karayanis(ph) was among the marchers.</s>PANOS KARAYANIS: I'm here because it's our obligation to fight for our rights and the rights of our parents and other people here in Greece. There is no other way.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Many of the slogans were aimed against the International Monetary Fund and the United States, described as the evil powers that want to reduce Greece to a colony.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Two employees of the finance ministry who identified themselves only as Costas and Eva, vented their anger against the president of the United States.</s>COSTAS: (Speaking foreign language)</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: We are very unhappy with Obama, Costas said. I believe he felt that the euro was too strong and that the dollar had to be stronger, so he made decisions to bring down Greece as a result.</s>EVA: (Speaking foreign language)</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: After a few hours, the leftist militants dispersed and masked youth, described as members of anarchist groups, took center stage and began to talk to police.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: They shouted: May the parliament, the whore house burn down, and started throwing objects at the cordon of security agents in full riot gear.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Police responded with teargas and stun grenades and the street clashes began. Athens city center turned into a battlefield engulfed in smoke. Shop windows were smashed, paving stones were dug up and thrown at police. Trash cans were in flames. Masked youths wielding Molotov cocktails targeted a small bank and set it on fire.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Ambulances rushed to the scene and stunned people crowded around to watch as firemen entered the building. Word quickly spread that three people had died in the flames. The mood turned against the rioters and they tried to deny the gravity of what had happened.</s>SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Athens.