In Brief
PEDESTRIAN RUN OVER
Woman killed, another injured in Vouliagmeni; driver surrenders One woman was killed and another injured in Vouliagmeni, southern Athens, yesterday when a car veered off the road and onto the pavement where they had been walking, police said. The unnamed 30-year-old man who was driving the car initially fled the scene but turned himself in at a police station a little later. The names of the two victims were not made public but police said that the woman killed was a 39-year-old and the injured woman was 53. ILLEGAL FOSSILS Austrians caught digging up 9-mln-year-old bones in restricted area Two Austrians have been arrested on Samos after illegally excavating at an archaeological site on the eastern Aegean island, police said yesterday. The pair had been digging in the area for some 10 days and had in their possession 93 pieces of fossilized animal bones, a shark’s tooth and 99 shells thought to be up to 9 million years old. Police said the suspects had planned to take the artifacts out of Greece. GREEK SPY US considering sending Lalas back The US Department of Justice is examining whether to allow a former State Department officer who spied for Athens to serve the rest of his sentence in Greece, the Justice Ministry said yesterday. Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras wrote to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in June to ask for the return of Steven Lalas, imprisoned in the USA in 1993 on charges of passing sensitive military information to Greece. Lalas, a US citizen of Greek descent, wants to return to Greece, as his wife and children have already moved back. Lalas was sentenced to 14 years without parole. Train routes Train routes on the suburban railway will return to normal tomorrow after the completion of maintenance work on the network. Thessaloniki blast A homemade explosive device went off outside a travel agency in Thessaloniki early yesterday, causing some 6,000 euros’ worth of damage, police said. The device, containing gas canisters, exploded at 5 a.m. at the entrance to the store on the ground floor of an apartment block on the city’s busy Egnatia Street. Apple recall The Development Ministry said yesterday that rechargeable lithium Apple batteries are being recalled from the market as they pose a fire risk due to possible overheating. More information is available from local distributor Rainbow on 210.901.2892. Feisty robbers Police were able to catch two alleged thieves in Sindos, near Thessaloniki, yesterday, even though the robbers slammed into their patrol car with a stolen truck, officer said. The two unnamed suspects, both aged 26, failed to stop when officers signaled for them to pull over. Instead, the truck they were driving sped away, forcing officers to give chase. After arresting the pair, officers found building materials in the truck which the suspects had allegedly stolen from a construction site. Forged passports Undercover coast guard officers arrested two 72-year-old men for selling forged passports and identity cards in Syntagma Square, central Athens, late on Wednesday night, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. The suspects gave the forged documents to the officers in exchange for 6,000 euros. Officer threatened A 22-year-old man was arrested in Thessaloniki yesterday along with two accomplices, both aged 20, after allegedly stealing three watches from a jewelry store, authorities said. Police said the 22-year-old tried to escape arrest by threatening a police officer with an air rifle. The suspect has also been accused of attempting to steal from a church in the Ano Polis area in Thessaloniki. Albanian fires Greek firefighting planes helped put out a blaze in Albania, near the border with Greece, yesterday after a call for help from Albanian authorities. The fire burnt forest and farmland areas close to the village of Droviani and was controlled in about three hours, Greek authorities said.
