Roads to close for race
A number of roads will be closed in central Athens tomorrow due to the running of the 32nd Athens Authentic Marathon. Participants will be running along Marathonos Avenue and then down Mesogeion Avenue toward the Panathenaic Stadium in the city center. Runners will also compete in 5- and 10-kilometer races. Roads will be closed at some point during the day in Marathon, Rafina, Pikermi, Pallini, Paiania, Aghia Paraskevi, Holargos, Papagou, Halandri, Filothei, Psychico and downtown Athens. Roads in the city center are not due to open before 5.30 p.m.
Drug arrests.
Two Greek men aged 45 and 48, as well as a 50-year-old Albanian man have been arrested in Athens and Volos on suspicion of being part of a drug-trafficking ring. Two more Albanian nationals are being sought, said police. The men were found in possession of 13.8 kilos of heroin, which they are believed to have smuggled from Turkey.
Murderer caught.
A 37-year-old man from Sfakia in Crete was arrested yesterday after having been found guilty of murder on appeal. A local court decided earlier this week that the man had murdered a woman in Hania 11 years ago and then attempted to murder a relative. He was handed a life sentence for the first crime and 18 months for the second but had been on the run for the last few days.
Fraudulent doctor.
A 63-year-old doctor has been arrested after an investigation by the Financial Police found that he had allegedly been using forged documents to claim money from primary healthcare provider EOPYY. It is not yet known how much the alleged fraud carried out by the doctor cost the state. So far, investigators have found 12 cases in which he used bogus documents.
Fatal crashes.
Three people were killed and one injured in three road accidents that occurred in a 45-minute spell on the same stretch of the Thiva-Livadia national road on Thursday night. Two men, aged 42 and 61, were killed when a truck collided with a tractor. A crowd gathered at the spot and the third man was killed when he tried to cross the road and was hit by a passing car. The victim was 37 years old. A traffic police officer was also seriously injured when he was hit by a car as he was directing cars past the crash site. Local authorities have complained about road safety in the area as many truck drivers use the road to bypass tolls on the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway.
Moldy pies.
Food safety watchdog EFET asked yesterday for cherry, lemon and apple pies produced by Evga under the brand name Trendy to be withdrawn from the market as mold had been detected in some samples. EFET said that anyone who has bought the product should not eat it.