Greece arrests two over deadly 2010 protest fire-bombing

ATHENS - Greek police said they had arrested two people over a 2010 arson attack that killed three workers trapped inside a bank building in Athens during a massive general strike against budget cuts at the start of the country's debt crisis.

The tragedy on May 5, 2010 unfolded as tens of thousands of striking workers and civil servants marched to protest against the terms of Greece's first bailout from euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

Masked youths clashed with riot police who responded with tear gas and flash bombs that clouded the city centre.

One man and two women, one of them pregnant, who were working in a Marfin bank branch, choked on smoke after assailants threw petrol bombs at the building.

Greek police said on Friday they had arrested two people and issued a warrant for a third over the case.

The arrests came after officers compared evidence and photographs from that day and other protests, a police official said.

(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 7:32 AM.