ATHENS (Agencies)

Several dozen youths hurled petrol bombs on Wednesday at stores and banks in central Athens as thousands protested against a government austerity drive, according to an AFP correspondent.

Youths smashed store windows and bus stop shelters with iron bars with no sign of police at the site before joining marches of demonstrators converging on the parliament to protest draconian spending cuts and tax hikes.

A protestor also threw a petrol bomb near the parliament. One bank branch in central Athens caught fire after it was hit by petrol bombs. According to people, three people were killed and 20 remain trapped inside the bank.

Earlier, police fired tear gas on protestors as demonstrations against a unprecedented austerity drive drew 25,000 people in Athens and 20,000 in Thessaloniki amid a general strike, police said.

In Athens, officers sprayed protestors with tear gas as they tried to break through a police line in front of the parliament amid a nationwide general strike.

In Thessaloniki, Greece's second city, police fired tear gas at protesting youths as they threw rocks against shops and banks.

Spending cuts and tax hikes

After separate rallies in Athens, the demonstrators converged on parliament, where the government was preparing for unprecedented spending cuts and tax hikes to be voted on Thursday.

"They're taking everything from me, I don't know how I'm going to get by," said 61-year-old Anargyros Bizianis, a municipal worker in Athens suburb of Piraeus who earns 900 euros a month.

Protestors bore banners reading the "IMF and EU are stealing a century of social progress", "The rich must pay for the crisis" and "Take the money of thieves and not the workers."

A man in his fifties carried a banner reading "I'm for rent on a low salary".

"The only way to do things now is by occupying public buildings and holding protests," said a protestors who gave her name only as Katarina.