Posted by The Associated Press on
A Nigerian immigrant died early Sunday after falling from the window of a cafeteria in northern Greece, police said, in an episode that sparked an hours-long violent rampage by local immigrants.
ATHENS, Greece: A Nigerian immigrant died early Sunday after falling from the window of a cafeteria in northern Greece, police said, in an episode that sparked an hours-long violent rampage by local immigrants.
Police said that the 25-year-old man had been selling pirated compact discs in a cafeteria in the Kalamaria area of Thessaloniki, Greece's second city, shortly after midnight.
They said the man panicked after he saw two men watching him and mistook them for plainclothes police officers. The Nigerian, whose name was not released, then ran to a window of the cafeteria and jumped out, dying after hitting the pavement, according to police.
Disputing this explanation, an angry mob of immigrants soon gathered outside the cafeteria and began pelting police with rocks, hurling chairs and setting fires. Three policemen were lightly injured before the crowd dispersed.
Police are still investigating the incident.