In Brief
EGYPT CRASH
Seven dead, six injured Cypriots flown to Larnaca after seven-hour delay The bodies of seven Cypriots killed in a road accident near Sharm-al-Sheikh in Egypt on Friday, as well as another six Cypriots injured in the bus crash, were flown to Larnaca yesterday after a technical problem with the Cypriot plane had been resolved. A problem with the aircraft’s wheel-steering system delayed its takeoff from Larnaca by seven hours. Four of the victims were from the same family. SIAMESE TWINS Both infants dead, doctors say after operation to separate them Two Siamese twins, who had been in critical condition for the past few weeks, both died, doctors at Aglaia Kyriakou Hospital in Athens said on Saturday following an operation to separate the babies. Doctors decided to operate following the death of one of the Nigerian twins on Friday afternoon but the second infant died on Saturday morning, after the operation. ND LEAD Gov’t 2.7 percent ahead of PASOK An opinion poll conducted by Kapa Research and published in To Vima newspaper yesterday put ruling New Democracy 2.7 percentage points ahead of opposition PASOK with 36.8 percent as compared to 34.1 percent for the Socialists. Out of the 1,618 households polled, 52 percent said they regarded Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as the most competent PM while 37.4 percent said they preferred PASOK chief George Papandreou. Soldier murdered? Police in Ioannina were yesterday investigating the apparent murder of a 30-year-old soldier whose corpse was found in his apartment on Saturday night by his brother. The unnamed soldier from Corinth, who had been serving at a military base in Kalpaki, had been stabbed several times, police said. The victim’s brother had traveled to Ioannina from Corinth after failing to reach the soldier by telephone. Traffic disruptions Traffic on Pendelis Avenue will be diverted from 10 a.m. today as work begins to broaden the road. The works, which will affect Pendeli-bound motorists on the section between Kyprou and Parnithos streets, are scheduled to run until the end of September. Traffic police will be on hand to guide motorists. There will also be traffic disruptions from today until Friday morning on the Aspropyrgos and the Syngrou-Faliron Delta bridges. Railway work Train services between Alexandroupolis and Soufli will be subject to disruptions from today as maintenance work commences on the tracks, the Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE) said yesterday. A replacement bus service will be available. Tourist death A Greek tourist was found dead Saturday in a street near his hotel in Zanzibar, Agence France-Presse cited police on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island as saying. Local police identified the man as Nikos Papageorgiou and said he had been found near the Tembo Hotel in Zanzibar’s historical Stone Town, AFP said. Papageorgiou had probably suffered a heart attack, hotel staff quoted a doctor as saying. Tripolis fire A rescue effort involving 15 fire engines, six water-dropping aircraft and two helicopters was dispatched Saturday to extinguish a large fire that had broken out in the region of Damaria near Tripolis in southern Greece. The fire approached the village of Palladio but homes were burned. It was unclear how much land had been destroyed by the blaze. Ferry fault A Piraeus-bound ferry which set sail from Chios early yesterday morning was forced to return to the island a few minutes later after the vessel suffered engine problems, the Merchant Marine Ministry said.
