In Brief
Piraeus heist
Hostage-taker wanted for murder; ring behind 21 raids A 33-year-old Greek national who held 18 bank employees and customers hostage following a botched robbery in Piraeus on Monday is wanted in Cyprus for the murder of a 60-year-old businessman, police said yesterday. According to sources, the suspect is alleged to have been hired to kill the businessman. The 33-year-old and his two accomplices in the thwarted raid – who had no role in the hostage-taking – faced an Athens prosecutor today. The three men are believed to be behind a total of 21 armed robberies on banks and post offices in the broader Attica area over the past nine months. Forest fires Call for Preveli blaze probe The head of the regional authority of Crete, Athanassios Karountzos, yesterday called for an urgent investigation into what caused Sunday’s catastrophic fire in Preveli, in the island’s south, following reports suggesting that a fire detection system had not functioned properly. Meanwhile a prosecutor in Pyrgos, in the Peloponnese, called for the indictment of several individuals in connection to the catastrophic forest fires that ravaged the prefecture of Ileia in August 2007. The individuals include the prefect of Ileia, the mayor of Zacharo, a local resident and three fire-service officials. Aegina appeal Piraeus Prefect Yiannis Michas has written to the management of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) requesting reduced electricity rates or the free supply of power for a restricted period of time to residents and entrepreneurs on the island of Aegina as a concession for the losses they suffered earlier this month as a result of power cuts. According to Michas’s request, made public by the Environment Ministry, PPC should offer compensation irrespective of whether or not it is to blame for the damaged underwater cables that caused the outages. Rescue effort A team of rescuers was yesterday scouring the slopes of Mount Tzoumerka, in the northwestern prefecture of Ioannina, seeking an 83-year-old man from the village of Neraida, near the Aspropotamos valley, who had ventured out to gather mountain tea. The elderly man set out on his tea-gathering expedition on Monday morning and was reported missing on Monday evening after failing to return home. There had been no sign of the 83-year-old by late last night. Bus collision A motorist was injured yesterday after his car collided with a Romanian tour bus full of schoolchildren outside the central city of Trikala. According to traffic police, the car veered out of its lane – for reasons that remained unclear – and hit the oncoming coach before tumbling into a ditch. The motorist’s injuries were not serious and no harm came to the passengers or the driver of the coach. The exact circumstances of the crash were unclear. Stabbing suspect Police in Athens yesterday detained a 77-year-old man in connection with the murder of a 62-year-old cafe owner in the eastern district of Zografou on Sunday. According to police, the 77-year-old admitted to knifing his friend to death when he refused to lend him some money.
