Migrants storm Greek-Macedonian border as tensions boil over

The crush began after rumours circulated the Macedonian authorities had opened the border Credit: Reuters

Hundreds of migrants have tried to storm Macedonia's border with Greece, leading to clashes with police who fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

Migrants trapped on the border used a pole to batter down a metal gate in the barbed wire fence as the crowd chanted "open the border".

Reuters said Macedonian police fired several rounds of tear gas into the crowd and on to a railway line where other migrants sat refusing to move, demanding to cross into the country.

Report by ITV News Middle East Correspondent Geraint Vincent.

The crush began after rumours circulated among the thousands who are camped out at Idomeni, on Greece's border with Macedonia, that the Macedonian authorities had opened the border.

At least two people collapsed in the crush and ensuing use of tear gas, Reuters television images showed.

The clashes at the Greece-Macedonia border come as authorities in France closed the Jungle camp at Calais, sparking confrontations with migrants there.

Angry migrants used a pole to batter down a metal gate in the barbed wire fence Credit: Reuters

More than one million migrants, many fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa, passed through Greece last year on their way to other destinations in Europe.

That has prompted criticism from other European nations that Athens simply waved them through.

But Greece argues the migrants have no interest in staying in Greece.

Many are hoping to reach Germany, which took in 1.1 million asylum seekers last year.