In Brief
RAILWAY DISRUPTION
Kifissia-to-Piraeus service to go no further south than Attiki Most of the Kifissia-to-Piraeus Athens electric railway will not be functioning today and tomorrow due to works on the track, the railway company (ISAP) said yesterday. Trains will only serve the Kifissia-to-Attiki stretch, although the Omonia and Monastiraki metro stations will still be functioning. TRAIN HITS LORRY One man killed as carriages derail at level crossing near Thessaloniki One man was killed and another four people were injured at a railway crossing near Thessaloniki yesterday when a truck hit a train, derailing three carriages. Truckdriver Constantinos Markou, 65, died instantly, while the train driver and three of the 75 passengers were hospitalized with light injuries. The accident took place near Pentalofos, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Thessaloniki, around 8 a.m. The railway company said the crossing was fitted with protective barriers and warning lights, though local residents claim that the barriers had not been working properly for days. OPPOSITES MEET Christodoulos visits Papariga Archbishop Christodoulos met Greek Communist Party (KKE) leader Aleka Papariga during an historic first visit yesterday to the KKE headquarters in the Athens suburb of Perissos. Their talks included relations between Church and State and the Church of Greece’s social work. Christodoulos told journalists that he and Papariga had «different approaches» to certain matters but agreed on others. Today, the archbishop is to visit Synaspismos Left Coalition leader Nikos Constantopoulos. Antiquities thieves Two men have been arrested and a third is being sought on suspicion of trying to sell scores of illegally excavated antiquities to private collectors, police said yesterday. The arrests were made near Livadia, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Athens. Police confiscated 62 pottery vases dating to Classical and Hellenistic times, 45 terracotta figurines, 15 silver and bronze rings and around a hundred potshards. The antiquities are believed to have been plundered from ancient graves. Delayed museum Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis yesterday urged Thessaloniki Museum officials to accelerate the pace of refurbishment work on the museum to ensure that the collections are open to the public by the end of July. «An Olympic city such as Thessaloniki cannot have its archaeological museum shut during the Games,» Tatoulis complained during a visit to the northern port city. Easter ferries A total of 399 ferry departures are planned for the next 16 days from Piraeus, to serve holidaymakers heading for the Aegean Islands and Crete at Easter, the merchant marine minister said yesterday. The Easter ferry timetable will be in force from today until Sunday, April 18. Ferry information is available over the phone on the 1440 recorded line, and on 210.422.6000-4 (the Piraeus Port Authority). Bank heist Five hooded robbers raided a National Bank of Greece branch on Kaningos Square in central Athens yesterday, stealing an as yet unspecified sum at gunpoint. All five escaped on foot.
