In Brief
HELIOS CRASH
Results of toxicological tests on 121 victims expected on Nov. 10 The coroner’s report on toxicological tests on the 121 victims of the Helios Airways crash in August will be handed over to the investigation team by November 10, chief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis said yesterday. Tsolakis is in Cyprus gathering further testimony in relation to the crash. Medical experts working for his team will also travel to Cyprus to interview the doctors who gave the pilot and co-pilot of the doomed plane clean bills of health. HEARING STARTS Truckdriver on trial for death of 16 KTEL bus passengers two years ago The trial of a Thessaloniki trucker accused of manslaughter in connection with a bus accident that killed 16 passengers in February 2003 started yesterday amid tight security. Michalis Constantopoulos, 45, whose driving is said to have contributed to an oncoming inter-city KTEL bus crashing into bridge railings and falling 15 meters into Aliakmona River, is also accused of driving under the influence of drugs and highway code violations. EMERGENCY LANDING Air France craft suffers fuel scare Iraklion airport was placed on alert yesterday afternoon after the captain of an Air France Airbus 330, flying from Paris to Cairo carrying 192 passengers, reported that the plane was losing fuel and would have to make an emergency landing. Fire engines and ambulances were on standby but the aircraft landed safely and tests revealed that it had not lost any fuel. It is thought there may have been a problem with the plane’s instruments. Trafficker jailed A Patras court yesterday sentenced a truckdriver to 10 years in prison and fined him 75,000 euros after he was caught harboring illegal immigrants. The unnamed trucker was caught on Saturday with 13 migrants hiding in the back of his lorry. The driver’s vehicle has also been confiscated by authorities. Meanwhile, coast guard officials at the port of Igoumenitsa, northwestern Greece, arrested a 41-year-old foreign truckdriver as he was about to board a ship for Italy after five illegal immigrants were found in a secret compartment in his vehicle. Kokkalis probe Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras confirmed yesterday that Greek authorities had asked their Swiss counterparts to investigate two accounts belonging to businessman Socrates Kokkalis. The probe is in connection to allegations that Kokkalis, the majority shareholder of lottery giant Intralot, accepted an advance from the Russian National Sports Foundation to buy lottery equipment that he did not deliver. Soldier charged A military judge yesterday remanded in custody a 19-year-old soldier after charging him with premeditated murder in connection with the death of 22-year-old Anna Nikolaou, who he allegedly beat to death in the toilet of a Patras cafeteria on Tuesday. Another 19-year-old conscript was charged with harboring a criminal after he allegedly failed to report to police that his colleague confessed to the murder. The second soldier was released pending trial. Greek aid Greece spent 456 million euros or 0.02 percent of its GDP on humanitarian aid and restructuring programs last year, Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis said yesterday at an aid conference in Athens. Molyviatis said that, public finances permitting, the government would seek to increase the amount that it spends on aid. Bogus buses Two school bus drivers were arrested in Athens yesterday after police checks revealed that that the vehicles they were driving should have been withdrawn from circulation and had been fitted with illegal license plates. In addition, one of the men was 18 years old and did not have a driving license, while the other had been arrested a few days earlier for driving another illegal bus. ADEDY strikes Public servants will hold a 24-hour strike on November 10 to protest the government’s proposed 2006 budget, their umbrella union group ADEDY said yesterday. ADEDY added that it might also hold a second strike on December 14, the day the private sector’s largest union GSEE has called on employees to walk off the job for a day.
