In Brief
BREAKOUT
Two suspects escape from holding cell at police station in Glyfada Two suspected burglars being held in a cell at a police station in Glyfada, southern Athens, escaped early yesterday, officers said. The two men, both Albanian nationals, managed to remove a ventilation pipe from the wall and climbed through the hole into a courtyard. They then climbed over a wall into the garden of a neighboring house and disappeared, police said. LEAVE OF ABSENCE Minister warns civil servants about extended summer vacation Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos sent a message to all civil services yesterday reminding staff and managers that employees’ vacations should not interfere with the running of their offices. Some public services, such as town-planning offices, have been known to shut down for the entire month of August but Pavlopoulos indicated in his circular that managers are responsible for ensuring that staff do not all take their vacation at the same time and that the office functions properly during the summer. SEA COLLISION Oil slick spreads after accident A collision between two container ships near Piraeus yesterday produced an oil slick measuring some 150 square meters, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. An operation was immediately launched to contain and clean up the oil slick. The collision occurred when the Bahamas-flagged DS Montrose struck the Ukraine-flagged Contaz carrier near the islet of Psyttaleia. None of the 45 crew members on the two ships was injured in the crash but both vessels were damaged. The Indian captain of the DS Montrose and his navigator were arrested, pending an investigation into the collision. Drug shootout Armed border guards and police exchanged fire with drug smugglers in a forested area on Mount Grammos near Kastoria in northern Greece early yesterday, injuring one Albanian man, authorities said. The injured man was part of a group of eight smugglers that had been trying to bring 147 kilos of hashish into Greece. The remaining seven smugglers fled across the border into Albania after dumping six sacks of the drug. Jackpot The lucky owner of a lottery ticket in Larissa, central Greece, is set to claim some 2.2 million euros after winning the Joker draw on Sunday, authorities said yesterday. The jackpot was larger than usual as there had previously been four draws without a winner. The owner of the ticket had not claimed the winnings by last night. Ferry canceled ANEK Lines ferry company said yesterday that its scheduled sailing today from Piraeus to Rethymnon in Crete and the return route tomorrow will not take place. Passengers with tickets for these voyages with the Prevelis ferry will be put on ferries to Hania and Iraklion instead. Those without vehicles will be transported between Hania and Rethymnon by bus, the company said. Kiosk robber A man was arrested in Hania, Crete, yesterday on suspicion of having broken into at least five kiosks in the city after some 1,500 euros in coins was found in his possession, police said. Officers caught the man, an unnamed Albanian national, as he came out of a kiosk which he had just robbed, taking 400 euros in change and phone cards worth 500 euros. A further 940 euros in coins, four boxes of cigarettes, two knives and a cigar were found at the hut in which he was living. He is suspected of having robbed four other kiosks with an accomplice. Hot cash Robbers used a blowtorch to force open a cash machine near the entrance to the University Hospital of Ioannina, northwestern Greece, and steal some 106,000 euros in cash, police said yesterday. Officers said there were no witnesses to the incident. Block firebombed The entrance to an apartment block in Petralona, southern Athens, was damaged late on Monday night after vandals threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at the building, police said. A supporters club for Panathinaikos soccer team is located on the fourth floor of the building on Pireos Street. Stores and cars next to the apartment block were also damaged in the attack but nobody was injured, police said.
