Car flattens bus stop; two dead
An elderly Athenian was killed while waiting for a bus on Syngrou Avenue just before dawn yesterday when a car speeding at an estimated 200 kilometers (124 miles) an hour smashed into the bus stop. The car driver, Yiannis Triantafyllidis, a 28-year-old ethnic Greek from the former Soviet Union, died of his injuries on the way to hospital. His passenger, only identified as Oler Balavanov, was in critical condition at the Athens Geniko Kratiko Hospital. The accident occurred at 6.15 a.m. on the highway’s Faliron-bound lane just after the Amfithea exit. Sarantos Logarakos, 60, who was waiting to catch a bus to work, died instantly when the car careered into the bus stop, flattening the metal shelter. The vehicle then hit three parked cars before coming to a halt. Witnesses told traffic police that the car had been going at around 200 kilometers per hour. The speed limit on Syngrou Avenue – which few drivers respect – is 80 kmph.
