In Brief
TRANSPORT STOPPAGE
Metro, tram, electric railway and trolley buses join action Workers on the metro, tram, trolley bus and Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) networks have decided to join the work stoppages that have been called for tomorrow by bus drivers. There will be no bus, trolley bus or electric railway services between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. and from 10 p.m. onward. There will be no metro or tram after 10 p.m. Employees on the metro and tram will work between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. but have asked for their wages to be deducted and to be given to the soup kitchens run by the City of Athens and the Church of Greece. It is likely that there will be a 24-hour public transport strike on New Year’s Day. THESSALONIKI TRASH Cleanup pledged for this week Thessaloniki will be clear of rubbish for New Year’s Eve, outgoing Deputy Mayor Costas Kazantzidis pledged yesterday. He said that trash had piled up over the last few days because it had been difficult to get hold of spare parts for trash trucks. Kazantzidis said 35 of the city’s 68 trucks have serious problems and need to be serviced, adding that most of the remaining vehicles need repairs. «We repaired most of the small vehicles and collected 1,000 tons of rubbish on the weekend,» he said. «By Wednesday, or Thursday at the latest, we will have collected the remaining garbage.» Fatal falling-out Two men, aged 46 and 47 found dead in the Toumba area of Thessaloniki on Boxing Day were probably both murdered by a 43-year-old drug dealer who then shot himself after being chased by police, officers said yesterday. Thessaloniki security police chief Athinagoras Pazarlis said two bullets shot from the same gun that the 43-year-old used to shoot himself were found next to the bodies. It is thought the men fell out over a drug deal. Cash grabbed Armed robbers held up a gas station owner in Kapandriti, some 30 kilometers north of Athens, yesterday morning and made off with about 50,000 euros in cash. The robbers forced the victim to stop his car and then, at gunpoint, to hand over a bag containing the cash. The car used by the robbers was abandoned a short distance from where the incident took place. Truck fire A prison truck carrying 15 convicts caught fire near the Corinth highway toll station yesterday, police said. The inmates were taken off the vehicle and continued their journey in another truck. Nobody was injured. Bank blast An explosive device went off outside a branch of ATEbank in central Athens yesterday. The explosion happened on Aghiou Meletiou Street at just before 3 a.m. Nobody was hurt in the blast. Authorities said that they are examining CCTV footage for clues. Pimp arrested A 45-year-old man has been arrested in Thessaloniki for allegedly forcing an 18-year-old woman into prostitution. Police said yesterday that the suspect, a foreign national, procured the woman in Patra for several months after threatening her with physical harm. She then escaped to Serres, where the 45-year-old caught up with her and took her by force to Thessaloniki. Officers said that shortly before being arrested, the suspect marked his victim’s face using a pair of scissors.
