In Brief
HOLIDAY HASSLE
Around 2,500 would-be travelers stuck in Piraeus due to ferry faults Some 2,500 holidaymakers were stuck in the port of Piraeus yesterday when two ferries were forced to remain docked due to mechanical failures. The two vessels, the Romilda and Rodanthi, usually serve a range of popular islands, such as Paros and Santorini, as well as ones off the beaten track, such as Anafi and Leros, but had encountered problems on their way to Piraeus on Thursday night, operator GA Ferries said. On one of the busiest days of the year for travelers, all the company’s other ships leaving Piraeus were fully booked. SUBURBAN RAILWAY One year on, passengers ‘happy,’ Corinth route to start in September Athens’s suburban railway completes a year in operation today, with 94.3 percent of passengers claiming to be satisfied with its service, the firm managing the route said yesterday. More than 15,000 commuters make daily use of the route, which carried 35,000 passengers per day during last year’s Olympic period. The extension of the route to Corinth is expected to be operational in September, the firm said. DEADLY BEATING Man, 38, kills mother-in-law’s sister Police were yesterday hunting for a 38-year-old man believed to have beaten his mother-in-law’s sister to death in the area of Haidari in Athens. Early yesterday morning, Vassilis Georgakopoulos broke down the door to the apartment belonging to the parents of his estranged wife and beat 61-year-old Maria Hadzizafiriou to death with his bare hands, officers said. Preveza blaze A team of firefighters, aided by water-dropping aircraft, yesterday evening struggled to extinguish a large blaze which was razing the area of Kanali in Preveza, northwestern Greece. Authorities said that homes were at risk and a camping site in nearby Monolithi was evacuated. Another fire in Konitsa, and four blazes in the prefecture of Ioannina, had been extinguished. Cyprus resignation Cypriot political parties yesterday applauded Defense Minister Kyriakos Mavronikolas’s decision to tender his resignation following Wednesday’s accidental explosion at a military camp near Larnaca which injured 18 soldiers, three seriously. Communist AKEL head Dimitris Christofias said Mavronikolas’s offer was appropriate following «one of the worst accidents in the National Guard.» Run over A teenager was killed late on Thursday after he tried to run across the Kastoria-Kozani highway in northern Greece during the night and was hit by a passing car. The identity of the 18-year-old was not made public but officers said that he was a foreign national. The accident happened just before midnight near Kastoria and the 40-year-old driver was arrested. Illegal immigrants Coast guard officials yesterday detained 40 illegal immigrants on the islet of Syrna, in the eastern Aegean, and arrested four suspected smugglers. Authorities did not reveal the migrants’ ethnic origin. Shortly after spotting the illegal immigrants, authorities arrested the four suspects – two men and two women – who were attempting to flee the islet in an Italian-flagged sailboat. Dog smuggler A Norwegian woman was arrested in Athens last week after she attempted to transport to Denmark seven stray dogs she had rounded up on the Aegean island of Chios, police said yesterday. Authorities were tipped off to her plan when she brought the dogs to Athens by ferry in cages. Animal protection groups say that every year about 8,000 to 9,000 stray dogs are taken out of the country. Flea problem Parts of northern Greece, such as the mountainous regions of Pella, are experiencing a flea invasion, according to local residents who have reported a growing problem with the pests. Local prefecture officials said yesterday that fleas have been multiplying, especially at livestock farms, and have spread to the homes of local farmers. The problem occurs every three to four years due to particularly hot weather and a lack of adequate sanitation, officials said.
