NEWS

Korydallos prison hostage crisis ends peacefully

A botched escape attempt by five inmates at Athens?s maximum security prison, Korydallos, that resulted in several guards being held hostage ended peacefully late on Monday night.

Police said that convicted kidnapper Panayiotis Vlastos and four suspected members of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire urban guerrilla group set free the three guards they had been holding shortly before midnight.

The alleged members of the group have been identified as Damiano Bolano, Christos Tsakalos and the Nikolopoulos brothers.

The five inmates also handed over a gun and three knives as well as a long letter protesting the conditions they are being held in. Dozens of people who had been visiting relatives but became trapped when the hostage crisis broke out were also released unharmed.

An investigation is under way into how the gun was smuggled in to the prison.

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