TIRANA, Oct. 14 /ATA/ – Clashes between protesters and police continued to escalate outside the Ministry of Education building in Tirana on Wednesday, with masked demonstrators setting fire to a building housing the offices of a banking institution and smashing windows at nearby businesses.
The protest, which began at 11 a.m., saw students and other demonstrators clash repeatedly with police. Masked protesters damaged streetlights and attacked a commercial bank, breaking its windows.
Demonstrators later set fire to a building housing offices of a banking institution, while others threw stones and smashed windows at nearby businesses. The blaze engulfed the entire building, threatening surrounding structures.
Earlier, a section of the Ministry of Education building on the first floor had also caught fire.
During the afternoon, protesters moved towards the city centre, where they burned benches installed by the municipality, leaving them destroyed and littering the surrounding area.
“Resignation” and “Police of crime” were among the slogans chanted by young demonstrators.
Police used tear gas and water to disperse the crowd, while protesters responded by throwing stones and other hard objects.
Media reports said several protesters had been taken into police custody and that injured people had been transported to hospital.
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