Injuries soar in brutal preview to G8 summit [View All]

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OVER 400 police and 520 demonstrators were injured when masked protesters showered officers with rocks and beer bottles during a rally against the Group of Eight summit. At least 25 police and 20 protesters were seriously injured.

Black smoke from burning cars mixed with the sting of tear gas in the harbour-front area of the northern German city of Rostock, where tens of thousands of people had gathered peacefully at the start of the day on Saturday.

But heavily armoured officers eventually drove the protesters back with water cannon and tear gas as they clashed with hundreds anti-globalisation demonstrators. Police said 63 protesters remained in custody.

It was a violent start to what is expected to be a week of rallies against the three-day G8 summit beginning on Wednesday in the fenced-off coastal resort of Heiligendamm, 22 kilometres from Rostock.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will host the leaders of Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Russia, Canada and the US for discussions on global warming, aid to Africa and the global economy. As in the past, the summit is attracting protesters opposed to capitalism, globalisation, the war in Iraq and the G8 itself.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=abgKA5lw.jQQ&refer=europe
German Police, Protesters Say About 1,000 Hurt in Rostock Rally

By Patrick Donahue

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- German police in the northern city of Rostock and protest organizers said almost 1,000 people were hurt after violence erupted during yesterday's mostly peaceful demonstration against this week's Group of Eight summit.

Some 520 demonstrators were injured -- primarily by stinging tear gas -- with 20 serious injuries, protest spokeswoman Sabine Zimpel said today. Police spokesman Frank Scheulen said 433 police offers were hurt yesterday, 30 of them seriously.

A march including organizations such as Greenpeace, anti- capitalist group Attac, Germany's Left Party, church groups and labor unions turned violent after demonstrators clad in black masks and hoods began to throw stones, bottles and flaming objects at police. The police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

``We distance ourselves clearly from these violent people,'' Zimpel said. The police's Scheulen said most disruptions had ended by yesterday evening, although assailants lit two cars on fire during the night, bringing the total destroyed to three.


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A protester throws a stone at German riot police in front of a barricade during an anti-G8 demonstration in Rostock June 2, 2007. Protesters threw stones and bottles and attacked police officers with sticks in the German port of Rostock on Saturday after a largely peaceful demonstration against next week's Group of Eight summit. A group of around 500 demonstrators set upon police near the harbour after a series of marches through the city in which police said 25,000 people took part.