In Brief
HELIOS AIRWAYS
Second Cypriot airliner in three days turns back after takeoff A Helios Airways plane heading to Glasgow with 184 passengers on board returned to Cyprus yesterday due to technical problems, the airline’s second such incident in three days. The low-cost Cypriot airline was involved in Greece’s worst-ever aviation disaster in August when 121 people were killed on a Helios flight that crashed near Athens. Sources said that the airplane that turned back was the same as that which was forced to return to Nicosia on Friday due to technical problems. THESSALONIKI QUAKE Tremor and three aftershocks hit An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale shook Thessaloniki early yesterday, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki said, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. The tremor, which was felt in the nearby cities of Serres and Kilkis, struck at 10.12 a.m. with an epicenter located east of Thessaloniki. Three aftershocks followed with the strongest registering 4 Richter. Prostitute ring Police in Athens arrested on Saturday two members of a gang suspected of bringing women into Greece from Eastern European countries and then turning them over to prostitution rings. The operation was run over the Internet, police said, and the gang members would take passports away from the women once they got to Greece in a bid to keep them from leaving the country. Police are searching for three more members of the gang. Bank raid A 33-year-old man has been arrested in Athens in connection with hacking into people’s bank accounts and stealing an unspecified amount of money, police said on Saturday. The unnamed man would transfer the money to his own account, keep 7 percent and then transfer the rest to a gang operating abroad which provided the suspect with the victims’ bank details, according to officers. Police did not give further details of the overseas operation. Hooligan fight Two people were slightly injured on Saturday when about 20 AEK supporters clashed with fans from crosstown rivals Panathinaikos in southern Athens on Saturday, police said. The attack took place as the Panathinaikos fans, traveling by motorcycle, stopped at traffic lights in Neo Faliron. No arrests were made. Passengers safe A passenger boat with 232 people aboard ran aground yesterday near the entry channel to the port of Piraeus, authorities said. The 170 passengers and 62 staff members on board the ferry Ierapetra, heading to Rhodes, were safely transported to another vessel. Divers were working throughout the day to free the boat, which did not take in water and remained afloat. Hit and run Police arrested a driver in Glyfada, southern Athens, yesterday after he allegedly abandoned the scene of a car accident he was involved in that killed the driver of a motorcycle and seriously injured the passenger. Police said the man hid his car after the accident on Saturday afternoon at a nearby spot by placing a protective cover over it.
