In Brief
SIEMENS BREAKTHROUGH
Magistrate soon to have access to fugitive suspect’s accounts Nikos Zagorianos, the magistrate heading the Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal, is expected soon to be given the details of the Swiss bank accounts belonging to fugitive ex-Siemens Hellas financial manager Christos Karavelas. Sources said yesterday that the prosecutor’s office in Bern earlier this week gave the green light to a request by Greek authorities to have access to the accounts so they could trace the transfers of money. Karavelas disappeared in June but his defense team is expected to try to block Zagorianos from accessing his accounts. SPOUSE MURDERED Husband beat wife with a hoe A 58-year-old man turned himself into police in Trikala, central Greece, yesterday afternoon just hours after allegedly beating his wife to death with a hoe. Police said that the 41-year-old woman had been hit repeatedly in the face and forehead, leaving her with fatal injuries. The incident allegedly occurred at about 2 a.m. at the couple’s home. Police suspect that the 58-year-old attacked his wife in a fit of jealousy but did not give any further details. The unnamed man voluntarily appeared at Trikala police station to give himself up. Ferry holdup Dozens of passengers were left stranded on several islands yesterday when the Superjet ferry failed to sail from Santorini. The ship had stopped at the island on Monday night and the captain refused to continue the journey due to what he claimed were adverse weather conditions. The decision to anchor at Santorini meant that passengers in Piraeus, Amorgos, Koufonisia, Folegandros and Milos were unable to travel as planned. Some 200 people were also stranded on Santorini. Sea rescue Two amateur sailors from Turkey had to be rescued by the crew of a passenger ferry after their yacht sank in the sea off the island of Kos in the eastern Aegean. It was revealed yesterday that the two men, aged 39 and 19, were found on Monday afternoon by the crew of the Blue Star 2 ferry after seeking refuge in a small dinghy. They were taken to a medical center on Kos for precautionary reasons. Apartment fire Firefighters were called to an apartment block near central Athens yesterday after a fire broke out in one of the properties. The third-floor apartment at 25 Michail Voda Street where the blaze began was empty and firefighters were able to extinguish it before it spread to any adjacent properties. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire. Drug haul Five men have been arrested in Athens after a shipment of 143 kilos of hashish was found hidden in the trailer of a truck on the island of Corfu. The drug was concealed in 128 airtight packs. Police said that two of the men arrested are Greeks aged 25 and 34 and that the others are a Belgian, an Albanian and a Romanian. University break-in Several laptops and hard drives were stolen from the National Technical University of Athens over the weekend, police said yesterday. The thieves broke a window at the chemical engineering school to gain access, according to officers. While inside the university, they also vandalized the offices of two lecturers.
