Cars queue up yesterday to pass through the Afidnes tollgate north of Athens. A total of some 1.5 million cars are expected to leave Attica over the Easter period as Athenians opt to celebrate in the countryside and on the islands. Traffic police have stepped up patrols on national roads and are clamping down on drunk driving in particular.

A substantial number of the 1.5 million cars expected to leave Attica over Easter took to the roads yesterday amid heightened police measures as newly released figures revealed that over 100 people had been killed and more than 1,000 injured on Greek roads in February.

The National Statistics Service said yesterday that 109 people had died and 124 were seriously injured in car accidents during February. Another 1,114 were lightly injured. The number of those killed represents a nearly 5 percent rise on figures for the previous year.

Over 2,600 police officers and almost 1,000 patrol cars are being stationed along the national roads over the Easter period. Policemen have been ordered to step up checks at accident black spots, but no major problems had been reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, there was also increased traffic at ports around Attica yesterday. The Merchant Marine Ministry said that some 40,000 passengers and 6,500 cars had sailed from the ports of Piraeus and Rafina on Wednesday alone.