Knife attack in Nea Smyrni bar
One man was knifed to death and another four wounded by a group of Albanians that entered an Athens bar early yesterday and started stabbing staff and patrons, apparently in cold blood. The vicious attack took place around 1.30 a. m. at the Notte bar at 171 Eleftheriou Venizelou Street in Nea Smyrni. Witnesses said a group of four Albanians who had not long been in the bar called over the disc jockey, Christos Stavrou, 47, exchanged a few words with him without showing any signs of aggression and then started stabbing him. They proceeded to knife the bar owner, Constantinos Tasioulas, 49, and patrons Maria Logothetidou, 19, Emmanouil Kotsyfakis, 28, and Dimitris Makris, 31, who had rushed to help the fallen disc jockey. Stavrou died on the way to the hospital, while the other four were treated for stab wounds. Police sources believe the killers may be members of a protection or prostitution gang that had tried to force the bar owner to employ an Albanian barmaid – who was sacked the day before the attack. The bar opened last week after being closed for a month for repeatedly exceeding the legal noise level.
