Reporter Gravely Injured While Covering Firefighter Protests In Athens - Union

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Reporter Gravely Injured While Covering Firefighter Protests in Athens - Union

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2021) A reporter of the Athens news agency (AMNA) sustained serious injuries when police were dispersing protests staged by firefighters in the Greek capital, the Union of Greek Photographers EFE said on Saturday.

Firefighters who were hired en masse in summer for tackling massive fires in Greece were dismissed as the fall came. At Friday protests, they demanded indefinite work contracts. Police used tear gas, flash grenades, and a water-jet propulsor to disperse the crowd.

"During the incidents that occurred at the protests of 'seasonal' firefighters in Athens, our colleague Orestis Panagiotou, a photographer at the AMNA and a member of the EFE audit commission, was injured by a water jet from a specific police machine, when the protesters were poured with water," the union said.

Panagiotou lost his poise and broke a leg.

One of the protesters also sustained serious hand traumas and, eventually, had his finger amputated. The Greek police made an official announcement that the investigation into both incidents is underway.