In Brief
TEMPE ACCIDENT
Crash spot too narrow for safety barrier, minister says A highway bend in the Vale of Tempe where last Sunday’s fatal accident occurred when a load of plywood boards on a truck came loose and sliced through a bus killing 21 schoolchildren is too narrow for the installation of a safety barrier dividing the road, Deputy Environment and Public Works Minister Yiannis Tsaklidis told Parliament yesterday in response to MPs’ questions. Installing such a barrier on the 9.5-meter-wide road «could create more problems than it would solve,» Tsaklidis said. Earlier yesterday opposition New Democracy called for the establishment of a special parliamentary committee to investigate the accident. ANNAN IN CRETE UN secretary-general arrives for three-day Elounda holiday United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday flew to the Cretan town of Iraklion ahead of a three-day vacation at the resort of Elounda on eastern Crete. Together with his wife, Nane, Annan will stay at the Elounda beach Hotel. Annan arrived in Athens on Tuesday to attend the ceremony for the accession of 10 new European Union members and an informal EU summit. ELA INVESTIGATION Agapiou denies all charges Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) suspect Costas Agapiou denied all charges involving him with ELA and accusing him of participation in attacks by the left-wing terrorist group between 1988 and 1995 – and of instigating two hits by the smaller May 1 group – in his testimony yesterday before examining judge Leonidas Zervobeakos in Korydallos prison, where he has been held since January. Fellow ELA suspects Angeletos Kanas and Irene Athanassaki are to face Zervobeakos on Tuesday. Turkish harassment Two Turkish F-16 jets yesterday harassed a US C-130 transport aircraft flying some 30 miles southeast of Rhodes, Greek military officials said yesterday. The jets were chased off by Greek aircraft, the same officials said, adding that the US pilot told control tower staff the Turkish jets had come very close to his aircraft. Rainy holidays There will be rain across most of the country next week in the countdown to Orthodox Easter, although Easter Sunday itself should be dry and sunny, the National Meteorological Service said yesterday. Border drugs An Albanian drug squad officer based at the border crossing of Krystallopigi was the head of a ring smuggling heroin into Greece, Thessaloniki drug squad officers said yesterday following the man’s arrest. The 30-year-old policeman, identified as A.S., was caught after he agreed to meet with an undercover Thessaloniki officer, posing as a prospective customer for one kilogram of heroin for a price of 10,000 euros, at Krystallopigi’s Greek customs office. Police arrested a 16-year-old Albanian who handed over the drugs (800 grams). . Truck hits bus A truck collided with a bus yesterday afternoon after running a stop sign at a junction in the Athenian district of Aegaleo. The bus driver sustained minor injuries but his two passengers and the truckdriver were unharmed, traffic police said. Samos quake An undersea earthquake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, occurred 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of the island of Samos just after 1.30 a.m. yesterday. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The quake was felt across Samos, as well as on Chios and Lesvos. A strong earthquake in the Turkish port of Izmir last Thursday was also felt on Samos. Anzac Day The Australian Embassy is holding a commemoration for Anzac Day at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 23, at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Alimos, southern Athens. Ukrainian president Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma was yesterday made an honorary citizen of Thessaloniki during a ceremony in the northern city. Kuchma, who attended this week’s European Union meetings in Athens, later also attended the signing of a twinning agreement between his hometown of Dnepropetrovsk and Thessaloniki.
