Berlin police detain 70 troublemakers

German police put down a street battle between Neo-Nazis demonstrators and leftist counter-demonstrators in Berlin on May Day holiday and detained more than 70 troublemakers.

About 2,500 neo-Nazis held a rally in eastern Berlin and got into battle with radical leftists, according to German News Agency DPA.

An overturned car was set on fire and store windows were smashed ,video tape from German new channel N-TV showed.

Riot police, waving truncheons and holding water cannons, were chasing troublemakers and driving them out of the scene, it showed.

More than 70 persons were detained, according to DPA.

The violence followed an overnight clashes between radical youth people and police. Over 100 people were detained in the clash and 58 policemen were slightly injured, police said.

The clashes, separate from traditional labor rallies that mark the occasion, have turned violent every year since 1987.

Some 8,000 police are in place this year in the German capital for possibly more severe looting and street battles.