G8 SUMMIT:Some 10,000 anti-capitalist protesters clashed with police yesterday, injuring eight of them, as they tried to blockade routes to a summit of major powers in Heiligendamm on northern Germany's Baltic coast.
Police used water cannons to push back demonstrators. Delegates from several G8 countries said the protests were limiting their ability to move around at the summit venue.
Eight officers were injured during the clashes with protesters near the town of Bad Doberan, police spokesman Luedger Behrens said.
Police "used water cannons twice after demonstrators bombarded police with stones," he said.
The authorities said 15 protesters had been detained.
Protesters were trying to block access to a luxury hotel in Heiligendamm where G8 leaders, including US president George Bush, were gathering.
By late afternoon, all three roads leading into Heiligendamm had been blocked off by protesters, and police in full riot gear wielding shields lined the entrance to the town. A railway line was also damaged.
German NDR public radio said the only way into the town was via boat or helicopter.
"We're stuck here now. The whole place looks shut down," a delegate said by telephone from inside the venue.