In Brief
AMMONIA LEAK
Firefighters contain gas at Rendi fruit and vegetable market Specially equipped firefighters were called to Athens’s main fruit and vegetable market in Rendi yesterday after an ammonia leak was detected. The fire service arrived at the market at about 1 p.m. and was able to trace the leak to a building in the marketplace. Firefighters prevented more gas escaping the building until the leak was fixed. Nobody had to be hospitalized as a result of inhaling ammonia. KIOSK RAID Armed suspect held in Corinth A man was arrested in Corinth yesterday on suspicion of carrying out an armed raid on a local kiosk. The suspect allegedly fired a shotgun at the ground to scare the employee inside. He then made off with 500 euros in cash. Officers said that they found the money as well as the firearm in the suspect’s possession. Zefyri carjacking A motorist had 320 euros and his mobile phone stolen from him while driving through Zefyri in western Athens yesterday. Police said that some obstacles had been placed on the road, forcing the driver to stop, at which point two young men opened the car door and threatened him. Club brawl A 23-year-old man died in hospital on Saturday, December 26 after being stabbed during a fight outside a nightclub in Lamia, central Greece. Police said that four men, all Albanian nationals, were involved in the incident but three of them fled after the victim was stabbed. Red-handed Two burglars, aged 42 and 45, were caught red-handed in the village of Nikiti in Sithonia, northern Greece, on Christmas Day as they attempted to load onto a lorry the contents of a house that they had broken into. Officers said the two suspects, both foreign nationals, had emptied clothes, bedding and a refrigerator from their 66-year-old victim’s home and were in the process of loading them onto a truck parked in a nearby olive grove. Swine flu A 57-year-old man died on Christmas Day after contracting swine flu, authorities said. The unnamed man was also obese, according to doctors. By December 22, some 350,000 people in Greece had received the H1N1 vaccination. Patrol vehicle crash Two officers were slightly hurt early on December 24, when three police patrol cars were involved in a crash as they chased a suspect who failed to stop when told to pull over on the national road in Athens. The driver was eventually stopped and police discovered he had tried to evade them because he had falsely reported his car stolen. Jewel thieves Two armed robbers made off with jewels worth more than 10,000 euros following a raid on a store in the center of Thessaloniki on Christmas Eve. Nobody was hurt during the holdup, which occurred at 5.30 p.m., while Christmas shoppers were milling in the streets. Carolers mugged Three minors were arrested in Alexandreia in Imathia, northern Greece, on Christmas Eve on suspicion of mugging three other youngsters that had been singing carols, and robbing them of the 24 euros they had collected.
