Rival groups of protesters clashed in Athens on Thursday on the second day of a general strike to block the parliament's approval of an austerity law.

Members of a communist union charged against masked youths using batons after the latter threw firebombs on them in Syntagma Square near the Greek parliament while thousands of other protesters were demonstrating in the area.

One man suffered a heart attack and 75 were found injured after police stopped both sides from throwing stones at each other.
On Wednesday, protesters clashed with police in the streets around the parliament building injuring 45 people. Rioters also vandalized stores, banks and hotels.

Meanwhile, the Greek parliament voted 154-144 to pass a law cutting salaries and pensions, increasing taxes and changing collective bargaining agreements to secure the release of $11 billion in loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The loan is part of a bailout package for the debt-mired country intended to pay debts and wages of state workers and keep the government running.

Bank, school, government and transport workers went on a nationwide strike on Wednesday on a bid to prevent the approval of the austerity measure required by creditors before releasing the loan.