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'Scab' driver burned in his lorry as European protests against high fuel prices turn violent Daily
Mail Violence has flared across Europe as hauliers, fishermen and taxi drivers protest against rising fuel prices they say are crippling their industries. Some of the worst outbreaks were seen in Spain where prime minister José Luis Rodriguez pledged 'zero tolerance' of any disruption by 90,000 striking lorry drivers. His warning came after a driver breaking the strike was burned when his lorry was set on fire.
(Article continues below) A British father and his son feared for their lives when a mob of Spanish truckers hurled rocks at their van. David Copestake, 40, and son Dylan, 12, were pelted as they drove on a dual carriageway. Mr Copestake, who has a chain of estate agencies in London, said: 'It was terrifying. One rock smashed into the windscreen heading straight for my head.' Spain's road system was returning to normal after the interior ministry ordered police to get tough. The government has reached a deal with most of Spain's hauliers on relief from rising costs. In Portugal, lorry drivers agreed to lift road blocks after their union accepted a deal with their government. But it followed the death of a man near Lisbon on a picket line. In France, hauliers mounted protest drives on motorways. set alight in violent protests Protests have now gone worldwide, with the Philippines and Thailand also seeing angry workers taking to the streets. Spain appears to have been worst hit, with lorry drivers on either side of the dispute paying with their lives.
Petrol prices there have risen about 24 per cent this year. Traffic ground to a halt as anti-riot police halted the convoy, including about 500 tuk-tuks, Manila's three-wheeled taxis. In Thai capital Bangkok, tens of thousands of heavy lorries threatened to cause havoc as farmers demonstrated and fishermen have begun burning their boats in nationwide protests against soaring prices of fuel and other essentials. Lorry drivers' leaders have warned the government it has until next Tuesday to subsidise their fuel or face at least 100,000 vehicles rumbling into Bangkok. Finance Minister Suraphong Suebwonglee said there were plans to help reduce transport costs. 'I am not concerned about the lorry drivers' threat to strike because the government is seeking to subsidise the transport sectors as the whole,' he said. One fishermen's group said more than half of the 50,000 fishing boats under its wing are being kept ashore because of the high cost of diesel. Thai Airways International raised its fuel surcharges by up to 100 per cent on Wednesday due to the rising cost of jet fuel.
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