In Brief
ATHENS BUS
Sightseeing tours of the city begin today in test project Visitors looking to take in some of the sights Athens has to offer can do so by hopping on the «Athens Landmark» bus, which starts operating today. The number 400 bus will take passengers on a 90-minute ride to the city’s more important museums and landmarks for 5 euros. It will run from 7.30 a.m. to 9 p.m., passing by each stop every 30 minutes. The line will operate through the end of September in a test project. SOLDIERS INJURED Explosion at Larnaca camp harms 11, three seriously Eleven soldiers, including as many as three from Greece, were injured yesterday when an armor-piercing artillery round accidentally exploded during a training exercise at an army camp near Larnaca, Cyprus. Three soldiers, of senior rank, were more seriously wounded. A military probe has been launched into the accident, described by Cypriot Defense Minister Koulis Mavronicolas as one of the worst suffered by the Cypriot National Guard during peace time. ANTIQUE SHOOTING Youth, 18, charged with killing An 18-year-old man was charged yesterday with shooting and killing 54-year-old antiques salesman Vassilis Papadopoulos five months ago in the older man’s home in central Athens. Officers said the two men had formed a relationship when the unnamed younger man worked in the store owned by Papadopoulos. But officers said personal differences developed between the two men, resulting in the February 21 shooting. Biker crash A 47-year-old motorcyclist was killed late Tuesday night when he crashed into a truck that had stopped at the side of the Egnatia Highway near Thessaloniki, police said yesterday. The truckdriver, who stopped because of an engine problem, was arrested because he did not have any insurance documents, officers said. The unnamed motorcyclist is the third to die near Thessaloniki this week. Forest trap A court in Kastoria, northern Greece, yesterday charged an Albanian national with drug trafficking after police caught him at 2 a.m. in a forested area on Mount Grammos near the Greek-Albanian border with 78 kilos of hashish hidden in sports bags. Officers said another three suspects managed to escape. Church theft Police charged a 37-year-old man yesterday with breaking into and stealing cash from 40 churches in the Thessaloniki area between July last year and January this year. The total amount of cash stolen was not revealed. Peach war Farmers in northern Greece said yesterday that they have cut off the supply of peaches to the region’s fruit-canning businesses since Tuesday in a bid to secure higher prices for their produce. The farmers are asking that industrial packagers buy their fruit at 0.23 euros per kilo while the canning businesses will likely not go above 0.19 euros per kilo. The farmers were scheduled to meet late last night to determine their next step. Lucky escape A driver was lucky to walk away unhurt from an accident in Halkidiki, northern Greece, yesterday after his truck, which was transporting petrol, ran off the side of the road, authorities said. A fire broke out after the truck’s container started to leak fuel but was quickly extinguished by firefighters who rushed to the scene. Ten fire engines and some 21 firefighters were involved in the operation. Confession The girlfriend of a 46-year-old business man shot dead last week confessed in Thessaloniki yesterday that she was the one who pulled the trigger, police said. The woman, an Albanian national, had a two-year relationship with the man that ended late last year. Police did not disclose the woman’s motives for the alleged murder. Fire operation Firefighters acted quickly yesterday and set up a special rescue operation, involving vehicles with sliding ladders, to save five elderly people from a burning building in Spata, east of Athens. Firefighters managed to restrict the fire to the basement of the building.
