In Brief
Couple murdered?
Bodies of two pensioners found in their home on island of Syros The decomposing bodies of two elderly people who were probably murdered were found in a house in Ermoupolis on the island of Syros yesterday. Police searched the house after neighbors complained of a bad smell coming from the house. The dead couple was named as Evangelos Drosos, 85, and his wife, Irini, 82. Police suspect that the couple had both been beaten over the head about a week ago. There were signs that the assailant had also searched the house. CELL DEATH Inmate, 27, found hanging from bars in Korydallos Prison A 27-year-old Afghan detainee, facing trial for manslaughter, was yesterday found hanged in his cell in Korydallos jail. The death of the unnamed migrant, who was found hanged by his belt from the bars of his cell, is being treated as suicide, according to prison officials. According to prison sources, the 27-year-old had been extremely apprehensive ahead of his trial, fearful that he would be handed a long jail sentence and be unable to return to his native Afghanistan. Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis offered his condolences and ordered an internal investigation into the circumstances of the man’s death. ACROPOLIS MOVE Transfer of artifacts begins tomorrow The transfer of antiquities from the Acropolis to the new Acropolis Museum is set to begin tomorrow in an operation involving three giant cranes that will be used to transport thousands of artifacts. The museum is expected to be fully open to the public by the end of next year. (Page 3) Ferry collision A passenger ferry collided with a fishing boat in the Thermaic Gulf early yesterday morning but no one was injured. The Samothraki, bound for Thessaloniki from Lemnos, hit the fishing boat Chrysoula amid fog and rainfall at 4.30 a.m. No harm came to the six-member crew of the fishing boat or the 143 passengers aboard the Samothraki. Parental responsibility The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a couple whose daughter was run over and killed five years ago should receive reduced compensation for her death because it deemed that they were mostly responsible for the accident. The girl, whose age was not given, was struck by a car as she attempted unaccompanied to cross a road to get to her house. The court ruled that the parents were 80 percent responsible for the girl’s death and the car driver 20 percent. Street fight A street trader was given a 13-month suspended jail sentence yesterday after being found guilty of refusing to submit to a check and swearing at a municipal police officer. He was cleared of causing minor bodily harm. The unnamed Senegalese man had claimed that he was injured during the confrontation with the officer and photographs showed he had a bump on his head. However, the defendant’s lawyer said that he would not be suing the policeman as he wanted the incident to die down. Bus on fire An ETHEL public bus caught fire and was totally destroyed near Loutsa, northeast of Athens, early yesterday but nobody was hurt. The driver of the No 304/305 bus from Ethinki Amyna to Aghios Nikolaos was alerted by one of the 60 passengers to smoke coming out of the rear of the vehicle. He pulled the bus over and oversaw the disembarkation of all the passengers but was unable to prevent the fire from spreading and burning the vehicle. The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) said the fire was probably caused by an electrical fault. It is the 16th ETHEL bus that has caught fire in the last two years. Embezzling suspect A coast guard officer was arrested on the island of Rhodes accused of embezzling 344,000 euros, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. The suspect is believed to have been siphoning off the money since June while collecting port fees from boats and yachts accessing the harbor. The Merchant Marine Ministry’s internal affairs team investigated the embezzling incident which the officer later admitted to.
