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| Europe |
| Shots fired as bus hijacked |
| 2004-12-15 |
| A GREEK public bus with about 27 people aboard was hijacked today and shots were fired at police who surrounded it on the outskirts of Athens, police and bus company officials said. Police did not say how many passengers were aboard the vehicle, but a bus company official said about 27 people were believed to be in the vehicle, which was surrounded by patrol cars and ambulances at a stop 17km from the city centre on the outskirts of eastern Athens. Initial reports said that at least two people apparently armed with shotguns apparently took control of the bus just before dawn. The bus driver managed to escape, according to officials. Reporters on the scene heard what sounded like two shotgun blasts about an hour after the bus was taken over about 6:00am (01500 AEDT) outside a nightclub. At least two shots had been fired at police who arrived at the scene shortly after the takeover. "The demand of the perpetrators is for us to give them a bus driver. We are letting police deal with this," Nikos Koutsogeorgas, president of the public bus company, told Athens' Skai radio. "It seems the bus driver's action to abandon the bus was positive." The bus was on a route from the town of Marathon, east of Athens, to the city centre when it was hijacked just before dawn at a stop in the suburb of Geraka. The bus stop was on a highway that was renovated for the Olympic Games and used for the Marathon race, the 42km course from ancient Marathon to central Athens. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #15 Good job by Greek negotiators , game over . All released and hijackers taken into custody . clockwork :) |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-12-15 5:47:09 PM |
| #14 Then I commend his quick thinking and action. |
| Posted by: Brett_the_Quarkian 2004-12-15 2:40:03 PM |
| #13 Excellent idea, the worst thing that could happen is to have a mobile hostage situation. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-12-15 2:39:17 PM |
| #12 The driver didn't just escape, he also took the keys of the bus with him -- the news mentioned that this was exactly what the bus drivers had been trained to do, when they prepared them for the Olympics. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-12-15 2:30:49 PM |
| #11 Fox reports that they want one million Euros and a trip to Russia. Looks like the Chechnyans are organizing a fundraiser. Where's Jerry Lewis when you need him? |
| Posted by: BH 2004-12-15 10:02:33 AM |
| #10 UPDATE: Gunmen who seized 26 people on a Greek bus have explosives and want to fly to Russia, a hostage on board has told Greek television. Two foreign men, thought to be Albanian or Russian, hijacked the bus shortly before dawn on its route from the town of Marathon into central Athens. A total of seven hostages have now been freed, after two emerged at 1240 GMT. --------------------------- Seems like this is a repeat Five years ago, Greece witnessed two bus hijackings within two months. In both cases, an Albanian man took control of the vehicle, demanding money and safe passage to Albania. Both hijackers were shot dead by security forces. In one of the incidents, a passenger was also killed. Good luck, guys. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-12-15 9:25:46 AM |
| #9 I believe the ship was the unfortunate Achille Lauro. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2004-12-15 8:26:39 AM |
| #8 So, do these particular idiots want to be driven to the usual destination (Cuba)? Seriously, good luck to the Greeks that they resolve this quickly. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-12-15 7:34:46 AM |
| #7 seems to me that negotiations are going along great for the greeks at this stage , textbook stuff |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-12-15 7:22:43 AM |
| #6 From reports it seems there's a high chance that the hijackers are Albanian muslims, and have guns and explosives onboard the bus. They are apparently now demanding a 1 million euro ransom, whether this is in addition or in place of the trip to Russia is not clear at the moment. |
| Posted by: Lux 2004-12-15 5:54:32 AM |
| #5 I guess I should have actually read it before I commented :-) |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-12-15 5:02:02 AM |
| #4 "Losing the driver puts the hostage takers at a distinct disadvantage and buys time for the police." Yes, it's distinctly different from a captain abandoning his sinking ship before all the passengers and crew are safely off. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-12-15 4:59:46 AM |
| #3 At least one hijacker's Russian, according to the Beeb. Good for the driver for escaping. So long as he didn't push back any kiddies or old ladies in doing so. One passenger and the ticket collector got away too. Quick thinkers. Losing the driver puts the hostage takers at a distinct disadvantage and buys time for the police - after all, they'd probably have arrived at the airport by now if he hadn't scarpered. The police can also have one of their own do their driving. Could help a lot. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-12-15 4:48:33 AM |
| #2 At least two shots had been fired at police who arrived at the scene shortly after the takeover. "The demand of the perpetrators is for us to give them a bus driver. Note to self, when hijacking a bus, don't shoot the bus driver if you can't drive a bus. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-12-15 4:46:39 AM |
| #1 There was a Greek captain who abandoned his sinking ship off the coast of South Africa I think in the late nineties. He was lifted off the deck by helicopter well before many of his passengers and crew. There was quite a stink over it. I don't remember the name of the ship. What point am I trying to make? I'm not sure. Maybe the Greeks have drifted a bit from the heroism of Ancient Greece. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-12-15 1:39:59 AM |