A couple runs to escape a fire from a bus station booth during riots in Athens December 7, 2008. Riots raged in several cities after police shot dead a teenage boy in the Greek capital, in the Mediterranean nation's worst civil disturbances in years. [Xinhua/Reuters]

Riots broke out in Athens and other Greek cities in the early hours on Sunday after a teenager was allegedly killed by police the previous night.

Demonstrators took to the streets in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra and other cities in Greece, setting fires to cars and damaging banks and shops.

Riots continued through Sunday morning in central Athens. A group of demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas.

The 16-year-old boy was shot in the chest in the Athens district of Exarhia on Saturday night during a clash between police and a group of 30 youths who are members of leftist, anti-establishment groups. The boy died shortly after being taken to hospital.

Policemen take up positions next to a statue outside the Law university during riots in Athens December 7, 2008.[Xinhua/Reuters]

The officer who killed the boy claimed that he shot twice in the air and once at the ground and that the bullet that injured the boy must have rebounded from the ground.

Two officers have been under arrest. Police officials said an investigation was underway and an autopsy will be carried out to confirm whether the police had shot directly at the victim.

Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos expressed deep regret over the death of the boy and called for an "exemplary punishment" against those responsible for the incident.