Youths wearing ski masks hurled rocks and fire bombs at riot police as clashes broke out in Athens during a mass rally against austerity measures, part of a general strike that crippled services and public transportation around the country. Police fired tear gas and flash grenades at protesters, blanketing parts of the city centre in choking smoke. Thousands of peaceful demonstrators ran to side streets to take cover. A police officer was attacked and his uniform caught fire in the city’s main Syntagma Square, before he was rescued by colleagues.