More than 70 arrested during Athens riots after Molotov cocktails thrown at police

Molotov-wielding protesters clashed with police in Athens, engulfing the area in flames at the weekend.

Footage shared on social media shows multiple burning vehicles in Exarchia, a neighourhood in the popular British tourist destination.

Fireworks and stones were also thrown at the district police station, local media reports, with parked cars and motorbikes set alight.

Athens police detained 72 people and reported one officer was injured during the turmoil, according to Greek channel EPTNews.

The disturbances started after a music performance in a nearby park, with the rioting extending to other streets, witnesses told the broadcaster.

According to Greek Police, a series of violent incidents took place late Saturday night in the Exarchia district.

Just before midnight, unidentified individuals launched attacks on officers stationed at the junction of Kallidromiou and E. Benaki streets, The Standard reported.

The assailants reportedly used Molotov cocktails and stones, prompting the police to respond with chemical agents.

The riots began just days after a bomb exploded near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece's main railway services operator.

The explosion Friday evening resulted in limited damage and no injuries. The perpetrators had forewarned of the explosion by calling two media organizations about 40 minutes before it happened.

It follows widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece's worst, in which 57 people were killed and dozens more injured when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.

The deadly accident exposed severe deficiencies in Greece's railway system, including in safety systems, and has triggered mass protests led by relatives of the victims against the country's conservative government around the accident's second anniversary.

Greece has been experiencing ongoing demonstrations in the past month.

Last week, thousands of Greeks gathered in Athens to demand higher wages to cope with rising living costs and a one-day strike left ferries docked at ports, flights grounded and trains at a standstill.

The conservative government has increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35 per cent to 880 euros since 2019. But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid fast-rising food, power and housing costs, Greece's largest labour unions say.