Riot police clashed with hundreds of leftist demonstrators after some of them broke into a supermarket on the eve of May Day in a traditional Berlin flashpoint. Rioters lobbed bottles and rocks and fired flares at police who intervened to stop the looting, which erupted after dark at the end of an open-air rock concert that drew an estimated 5,000 people to the streets of Kreuzberg district. A police helicopter whirred overhead as several hundred officers rushed in and dispersed the masked leftists, geared up for anti-globalisation protests in the capital on the May Day holiday tomorrow. Several police officers were injured, police spokesman Christian Matzdorf said. He said he knew of no injuries to demonstrators. By midnight, police reported the situation under control. Berlin's gritty Kreuzberg district has been the focus of riots on May Day and the night before that have become a fixture in the capital over the past 15 years. About 10,000 people gathered at night around bonfires in a park several kilometres to the north to mark St Walpurgis Night, recalling a medieval rite of spring believed to scare off witches. Firefighters were called out to douse a trash fire set on a nearby thoroughfare. WALPURGISNACHT. Witches, warlocks & demons hold revels in Harz Mountains. Whole towns rush into streets, making as much noise as possible. Church bells ring, bonfires are lit. In British Isles, a scapegoat is chosen by lots and burned, hobby horse parades are held, chasing evil away until Mid-summer's Night.
