NEWS

Trikala Prison escapee shot dead near Albanian border as police close in on fugitives

Police have shot dead one of the two Trikala Prison fugitives after tracking the convicts down near Greece’s border with Albania.

Authorities said on Sunday morning that Marian Kola had been killed during an exchange of fire after being spotted at around 4 a.m. by the EKAM special forces unit walking next to a river near Souli in northwestern Greece.

The other fugitive, Ilir Koupa, evaded arrest. A policeman was injured during the attempt to catch the two suspects.

Police sources told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency that Kola was heavily armed and had been carrying a hand grenade.

Authorities said that the operation to catch Koupa would continue.

Another fugitive from Trikala Prison, Lika Edison, was killed by police earlier this month along with his uncle, Flamur Sinani, who was allegedly helping some of the escapees.

Six of the 11 Albanian convicts that escaped from Trikala Prison in March had been on the run until Sunday. During their escape, two people have been killed, a police officer and a 25-year-old woman who was hit by a stray bullet fired by the fugitives at a patrol car that was pursuing them.

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