Festival riot leaves Underworld man injured

Festival riot leaves Underworld man injured

20 June, 2007 | 10.06PM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: underworld

Underworld member Rick Smith was left hospitalised after a gang wielding iron bars, tear gas and baseball bats stormed the Heineken Ejekt festival in Athens, Greece on Saturday.

A gang of around 30 masked attackers thought to be anarchists stormed the event at around 11.20pm whilst the Beastie Boys were on stage.

Smith was due to close out the festival with bandmates Karl Hyde and DJ Darren Price, but was injured along with several other persons.

Police and festival organisers were forced to evacuate the baseball stadium where the festival was being staged, whilst Smith was taken to hospital where he stayed for a short while before returning home to the UK for further treatment.

The chaos continued outside the stadium - several cars were torched and more rioting continued.

It is not known why the group targeted the normally peaceful event.

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