In Brief
SHORT CIRCUIT
PPC workers threaten June, July walkouts over lack of hirings The union representing workers at the Public Power Corporation (PPC) decided yesterday that its members would begin a series of strikes at the end of the month to draw attention to demands that the company hire 7,000 new employees. Under the measures approved by the GENOP union, workers will not work overtime or on weekends between June 29 and July 2. They will also stage a 24-hour strike on July 15, which will be followed by rolling strikes starting July 20 if their demands are not met. GENOP argues that the lack of staff is one of the key reasons that accidents occur at the company. Six PPC workers have been killed this year. According to GENOP, PPC employed almost 37,000 people in 1994 but there are fewer than 24,000 workers now and 8,000 of these are over the age of 50. RUN OVER Three hurt in Crete truck crash Three people were seriously injured near Hania, Crete, at about 6 a.m. yesterday when the 22-year-old driver of a truck lost control of the vehicle near the village of Aghia Marina. The truck rode up onto the sidewalk and plowed through two stores, knocking over tables and chairs where people had been drinking coffee. A Norwegian and a Syrian man as well as the driver were injured. The Norwegian, who was on vacation, suffered the most serious injuries. It was not clear what caused the 22-year-old to lose control of the vehicle. Double trouble A pair of twin brothers, one of whom had breached the terms of his prison furlough, was arrested in western Thessaloniki yesterday following a chase involving several police officers, two of whom were injured. One of the men had been serving a prison sentence for robbery and is thought to have been responsible for an armed raid on a branch of the Bank of Cyprus in the city on May 26 during which 16,000 euros were stolen. During a search of the brothers’ house, police confiscated an air gun and clothes they believe the suspect wore during the robbery. Egnatia deaths Three people were killed and two injured on the recently opened Egnatia Odos in northeastern Greece late on Sunday. Police said that the car in which all five were traveling crashed into a barrier near Kozani. Branch torched A branch of Emporiki Bank in the Toumba area of Thessaloniki was damaged during an arson attack early yesterday. Assailants left a crude incendiary device made of cooking gas canisters outside the bank at about 4.30 a.m. About 20 minutes later, Molotov cocktails were thrown at a corner shop nearby. It was not clear if the two incidents were related. No injuries were reported. AIDS verdict The family of an AIDS sufferer who died in 1996 have been awarded more than 100,000 euros in damages after the Council of State upheld an original decision by an Athens court that found doctors at the Korgialeneio-Benakeio Hospital in Athens did not give the patient adequate treatment when he was admitted just hours before his death. The Council of State found that the patient was initially treated by a pathologist rather than a specialist before being transferred to another hospital, where he died.
