Police beat migrants and spray them with fire extinguishers on Greek island Kos

Overwhelmed police on the Greek island of Kos beat migrants with truncheons and sprayed them with fire extinguishers as its mayor warned the refugee crisis on the island could end in “bloodshed”.

The migrants, mostly Afghans and Syrians, were being relocated to a local football stadium on Kos after camping alongside the island’s roads and beaches for weeks.

Four police used truncheons and fire extinguishers seemingly to prevent a stampede as a crowd tried to squeeze through a door into the stadium, a photographer at the scene said.

At least one woman had already fainted in the heat and many children were crying as the tightly packed mass of people jostled for space, just days after the country’s handling of migrants came under fire from the UN.

Tensions on the tourist island are high with its mayor warning Tuesday of “bloodshed”, claiming there were 7,000 migrants stranded on Kos which has a population of only 30,000 people.