Stark warning from Greek mayor after Kos police use batons and fire extinguishers to break up 1,500 strong refugee protest at football stadium

• Migrants started pushing and shoving in a queue during a registration procedure at a stadium of Kos town
• There were only a handful of police officers left to control a crowd of approximately 1,500 jostling migrants 
• Officers used were left trying to impose order on the crowd by hitting the fighting migrants with their batons
• Yorgos Kyritsis said island was 'out of control' adding: 'There is a real danger of uncontrollable situations'

By JOHN HALL FOR MAILONLINE and DAVID WILKES and EMINE SINMAZ FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 10:43 GMT, 11 August 2015 | UPDATED: 10:55 GMT, 12 August 2015

The mayor of Kos has warned of impending 'bloodshed' after chaos broke out among 1,500 refugees who staged a protest at a football stadium, demanding food and shelter.

Yorgos Kyritsis issued the warning as the holiday island descended into a battlefield, with police spraying migrants with fire extinguisher foam in an effort to get them to disperse. 

The incident took place during a registration procedure which was taking place at the stadium of Kos town, on the south east of the island.

Mr Kyritsus lambasted the situation as being 'out of control', adding: 'There is a real danger of uncontrollable situations. Blood will be shed.' 

He claims there are already 7,000 migrants stranded on Kos which has a population of just 30,000 people. 

A handful of officers were left trying to impose order on the crowd by hitting the jostling migrants with batons and eventually resorted to blasting them with foam, causing hundreds to flee in panic. 

Overwhelmed Kos authorities are struggling to contain increasing numbers of people arriving clandestinely on rubber dinghies from the nearby Turkish shore.

Hundreds of protesting migrants demanding quick registration began blocking the main coastal road in the island's main town yesterday morning, staging a sit-in. 'We want papers, we want to eat!' they chanted.

But some of the migrants, so desperate to find a better future and prepared to risk life and limb to achieve it, appear to have resigned themselves to the futility of the situation.

As the ugly confrontation with the police unfolded, one migrant said: ‘What can I say – is this Europe? If this is Europe, we’re going back to Syria.’ 

Dailymail

Kos police use batons and fire extinguishers in fights with migrants screaming: 'We want to eat'

Migrants, police clash on Greek island, mayor warns of bloodshed