Possible ambulance delay probed in filmmaker’s death
The chief of the National First Aid Center (EKAB), Yiannis Rotziokos, said on Wednesday that he will be launching an investigation into allegations that an emergency response unit called to the scene of the deadly accident of Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos on Tuesday night was delayed.
The award-winning filmmaker was struck down by a motorcycle while crossing a busy thoroughfare during the shooting of his latest film, «The Other Sea,» in Drapetsona on the outskirts of Piraeus.
He was rushed to a private hospital in Neo Faliro, where he subsequently died a few hours later as a result of head trauma and internal injuries sustained in the accident.
However, on Wednesday, an emergency medical technician who works for EKAB told a private television station that the ambulance initially called to the scene of the accident experienced a problem with its brakes and had to be replaced by another, causing a delay in the filmmaker’s transportation to hospital.
According to an announcement by the Health Ministry, however, Angelopoulos was taken to the hospital on his own demand in a private ambulance, while Rotziokos added that the EKAB unit that arrived at the scene only provided first aid.
