In Brief
PERAMA BLAST
Two supervisors remanded over deadly dockyard accident Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis yesterday promised port authority jobs to the children of the seven Greek dockworkers killed in an explosion on a tanker in Perama last Thursday. The eighth fatality in last week’s blast was the ship’s first mate, a Filipino. Meanwhile two brothers, the two supervisors who had been on duty on the Panama-flagged Friendship Gas at the time of the blast, were remanded in custody after appearing before an investigating magistrate. The ship’s captain and other crew members are to testify today. RAIL DISRUPTION ISAP strike today and tomorrow Services on the Piraeus-Kifissia urban electric railway (ISAP) will be suspended today as staff stage a 24-hour strike to protest planned reforms aimed at abolishing collective work contracts. Services will also be disrupted tomorrow between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. as staff stage two four-hour work stoppages. Siemens probe Magistrate Nikos Zagorianos, who has taken over the investigation into alleged bribes paid by Siemens in Greece, could be set to travel to Germany to question former employees of the parent company there, sources said yesterday. Zagorianos already has information about the bank accounts of some Greek suspects but is expecting the disclosure to him of further information. He has also requested details from a Swiss bank Salonica trash. Thessaloniki Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos yesterday called on municipal authorities in the eastern part of the prefecture to reopen the saturated Tagarades landfill for the next few weeks until an alternative solution is found for the northern city’s waste management problem, and to avoid «an extreme situation in the middle of summer.» Local authorities in Thessaloniki on Sunday closed down the Tagarades landfill following the expiry of a 42-day extension for its operation. The operation of a new landfill in the district of Mavrorachi has been blocked by local residents. Robberies A 23-year-old Georgian man was being questioned yesterday in connection with four raids on street kiosks and convenience stores in Thessaloniki. The man is alleged to have used a knife to threaten staff before fleeing with cash and goods. No injuries were reported. Meanwhile officers were seeking five armed robbers who yesterday fled with an unspecified sum after raiding a Postal Savings Bank branch in the Athens district of Kypseli. Actor murder The 30-year-old Georgian man suspected of murdering actor Nikos Sergianopoulos was yesterday given until tomorrow to prepare his defense before he faces a magistrate. The suspect is accused of stabbing the actor to death in his Athens apartment last month. Forged documents Three men have been arrested in Athens on suspicion of selling forged documents to migrants submitting paperwork to obtain residence permits. Attica Police said they have arrested three men, all Pakistanis, and are looking for one more suspect. Officers said the men were working out of a shop in western Attica.
