Shocking footage has emerged from a violent attack at the University of Athens’ Zografou campus on Wednesday morning (4 November), showing a student engulfed in flames after masked assailants armed with Molotov cocktails, clubs and an axe stormed a student assembly.

Screams can be heard in the video as flames spread through the area and a person, apparently on fire, runs in an attempt to escape. Several individuals wearing helmets are also visible.

Three people were injured in the attack at the university’s Department of Mathematics, while Greece’s Ministry of Education has demanded explanations from the university’s rectorate.

Student set alight as classmates rushed to help

Students who witnessed the attack described terrifying scenes, including a first-year student being struck by a petrol bomb and fellow students desperately trying to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher.

“They chased a first-year student and threw a Molotov cocktail at him. They grabbed a fire extinguisher to help stop him from burning,” one witness told protothema.gr.

“They threw a Molotov cocktail at a student, one of our classmates,” another witness said, pointing to the young victim’s jacket, which had been reduced to ashes.

A female student from the Department of Physics, who was present during the incident, gave a detailed account of the violence.

“Some people came in and threw Molotov cocktails. They hit a first-year student in the face. They also came with an axe and struck another student, tearing his leg open. Fortunately, they didn’t hit him properly, because he could have lost his leg.

“At that moment, an assembly was taking place in the Mathematics Department, which is in the same building as ours, along the same corridor where I attend classes. From what I understand, it was about organising an occupation for the Polytechnic anniversary.

“They chased a first-year student and threw a Molotov cocktail at him. They grabbed a fire extinguisher to help stop him from burning.”

Another witness confirmed that a fellow student had been targeted with a petrol bomb.

Around 50 masked attackers stormed the assembly

Natalia Lambriniadi, a member of the student association’s governing board, said the attack took place during a scheduled general assembly ahead of the annual commemorations of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising.

“We had a general assembly scheduled today ahead of the three-day Polytechnic commemorations. During the meeting, we heard a commotion, went outside the lecture theatre and saw a group of dozens of people, around 50, with their faces covered and carrying equipment, attacking students,” she said.

Lambriniadi condemned the violence and described the weapons used by the attackers.

“An attack with an axe, a crowbar and Molotov cocktails inside enclosed spaces is a fascist attack. Fellow students have suffered injuries, including fractures to their limbs, from the axes and crowbars. One of our fellow students, an 18-year-old, caught fire,” she added.

She also suggested that the violence was connected to the forthcoming demonstrations marking the Polytechnic anniversary.

“These attacks are not random. It is no coincidence that they are happening just days before the Polytechnic anniversary. We believe they are politically orchestrated,” she said.

“You understand that when someone attacks with axes and crowbars, we are talking about serious injuries. One student suffered burns from a Molotov cocktail because he caught fire inside his own university,” she added.

Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, another member of the student association’s governing board, told Orange Press that the assault was unprecedented.

“What happened today is terrible. Groups of masked individuals arrived with an unprecedented level of equipment to break up an assembly,” he said.

How the attackers entered the university campus

According to university sources, the student assembly had been organised in preparation for demonstrations commemorating the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Junta military dictatorship in November 1973.

The masked attackers are believed to have entered the campus through gaps in its security arrangements.

The nearest such access point is reportedly around 100 metres from the Department of Mathematics building.

Vehicle access to the university grounds is now prohibited, raising questions about how such a large group of armed individuals managed to enter the premises and carry out the assault.

The incident has intensified concerns about security at Greek universities, with the Ministry of Education requesting explanations from the university authorities following the injuries and the circulation of the disturbing footage.