Greek Public Bus Hijacked

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...121404593.html


Greek Public Bus Hijacked

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A Greek public bus was hijacked Wednesday and shots were fired at police who surrounded it on the outskirts of Athens, police and bus company officials said.

Police did not know how many passengers were aboard the bus, which was surrounded by patrol cars at a stop just over 10 miles from the city center on the outskirts of eastern Athens. It was not known how many people took control of the bus.

"There is a stop there and the bus was on a regular route," said Nikos Koutsogeorgas, president of the public bus company.

The bus was on a route from the town of Marathon, east of Athens, to the city center when it was hijacked just before dawn at a stop in the suburb of Geraka.

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[lucky wilbury]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe...ges/index.html

Gunmen seize bus in Athens
Wednesday, December 15, 2004 Posted: 12:51 AM EST (0551 GMT)

ATHENS, Greece -- Gunmen have seized a public bus near the Greek capital of Athens and are holding about 25 passengers hostage.

Authorities have surrounded the Athens-Marathon bus that was seized early Wednesday morning, Greek police told news agencies.

Gunshots have been heard, although it was not clear if they came from inside or outside the bus, according to initial reports from police and journalists on the scene.

The bus driver managed to escape and alert the police, Elisabeth Filippoulis from Greek television station ERT told CNN.

While police did not yet know who the gunmen were, why the bus had been hijacked or if they had any demands, Filippoulis said the two gunmen were reportedly foreigners.

She did not specify what nation they might be from, though another report suggested the gunmen could be from Albania.

"The bus is stopped, police have surrounded it," a police official told Reuters.

The hostage-takers have drawn the curtains, preventing anyone from seeing inside the bus.

So far, the police have not released an official statement regarding the situation.

Police cars also blocked traffic along the busy eastern Athens highway leading to Marathon and kept news crews hundreds of meters (yards) away.

This is the first such incident since two deadly bus hijackings shocked the country five years ago.

[Nickdfresh]

Hostages freed from Athens bus
Armed kidnappers ask to be flown to Russia
Wednesday, December 15, 2004 Posted: 6:07 AM EST (1107 GMT)


ATHENS, Greece -- Hijackers have released at least five hostages nearly six hours after seizing a bus with about 26 passengers on board in an Athens suburb.

The two hijackers -- identified as foreign nationals by Greek authorities -- are strapped with explosives and armed with guns, and have fired on police at least four times during the standoff.

They are demanding to be taken to Athens airport to be flown to Russia. The gunmen may be Albanian, the Albanian ambassador to Greece told The Associated Press.

Five hostages were released -- two men and three woman -- after six hours. The first, a 55-year-old man said to be suffering a heart condition, was released for what were described "as medical reasons."

Journalist Anthee Carassavas told CNN that police had said their release was the first positive sign that negotiations were "going well."

She said it was unclear as to the identity of the hostage-takers or what their detailed demands were beyond their wish to be flown to Russia.

Albanian and Russian diplomats were called in by Greek police to the scene to try to pin down their nationality.

Special forces, including snipers, hostage negotiators and anti-terrorism squads, continued to surround the blue-colored bus in the Athens suburb of Marathon, while a police helicopter hovered overhead.

The bus -- which was heading from Marathon to Athens -- was seized at about 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) Wednesday, and was later parked alongside a road about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the city center.

It was the first such incident since a spate of bus hijackings in Greece five years ago.

"I talked with one of the passengers on the bus over her mobile phone and she told me the gunmen want a new driver to take them straight to the airport so they can leave the country," Nikos Koutsogiorgos, head of the company that owns the bus, told reporters.

Police told news agencies the armed men entered the bus and fired shots into the roof of the vehicle.

A senior police official said authorities were still trying to confirm the hijackers' identities.

One of the hijackers telephoned a private radio station, identified himself as "Hassan" and insisted police meet their demands or else they would take drastic action.

Driver raised alert
About an hour and an half after the bus was seized, gunshots were heard, although it was not clear if they came from inside or outside the bus.

The bus driver and two others managed to escape shortly after the hijacking and alerted authorities, police and eyewitnesses said.

"I was the first at the scene and saw the driver jumping out of the bus with a ticket collector and another woman. There was a scuffle inside the bus," eyewitness Nikos Balogiannis told state-run NET television, according to AP.

The hostage-takers drew the curtains, preventing anyone from seeing inside the bus.

There were no reports of any injuries, but live television pictures earlier showed one of the gunmen approaching the front of the bus and firing off two warning shots.

Police anti-terrorist squads, which also deal with hijackings, parked a van in front of the bus to prevent it from driving away.

Release of hostages
The first male hostage released walked casually off the bus after being freed.

The man, with graying hair, quickly raised his arms as he walked off the bus, hopped a fence, and left the scene. Moments later, he was escorted into a vehicle and driven away.

Minutes later three female hostages -- all younger woman -- and a man were also freed.

One of the woman, wearing a yellow jacket, was limping. She walked hesitantly from the bus and appeared to be distressed.

Journalists Elisabeth Filippoulis and Anthee Carassavas contributed to this report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

A woman hostage leaves the bus. She and four others were released.
Image:

[Classic]

I always thought they were running the 42 kilometers between Athens and Marathon anyway?

Now they use buses? What a shocker!

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6715678/

Greek bus hijackers set deadline for ransom
Attackers, holding 7 hostages, demand $1 million, flight to Russia

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 1:42 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Two gunmen armed with explosives who hijacked a Greek bus early Wednesday released 16 of the 23 passengers they took hostage, but one said that no more would be freed and set a deadline for delivery of a $1 million ransom and a plane to fly him and his partner to Russia.

“I will wait until eight o’clock tomorrow (1 a.m. ET Thursday) for the money and the driver," said the man, who identified himself only as “Hassan” in a mobile phone call to Greece’s Alter TV. “I am not letting anyone else go.”

The men, identified by officials in the Athens prosecutor’s office as Albanians with criminal records in Greece, seized control of the bus at 5:50 a.m. about 10 miles east of the city center. The bus driver, a ticket inspector and a passenger escaped in the early moments of the hijacking.

Earlier, a hijacker phoned the Alpha television station to threaten to harm the hostages if the demands are not met.

“Tell them to move the van from in front of us or we will blow up the bus,” the hijacker said in Greek to Athens’ Alpha television station. “Tell them to get all the police away from here. We want to go to the airport and fly to Russia. All passengers will get off there. We haven’t harmed anyone, but if the driver is delayed, I said that I will strike.”

Hostage says gunmen have explosives
A hostage on board the bus said the gunmen had explosives.

Hundreds of police officers, snipers in camouflage attire and special forces took up positions around the vehicle, which had curtains drawn on its windows to block views inside. The bus was hemmed in by a police car and van next to a large supermarket, a McDonald’s restaurant, a seedy nightclub and a gas station.

After a visit to the hijack scene by Albania's ambassador and telephone talks between the law and order ministers of Greece and Albania, a senior police official told Reuters that authorities believed the gunmen were Albanians.

"Unless we see their passports we can't be 100 percent certain, but we are operating now on the belief they are from Albania," the official said.

Hundreds of thousands of Albanians live in Greece. Many came from the neighboring country to help with construction work for the Athens Olympics.

"The figure of $1 million (ransom) has been mentioned in negotiations with the hijackers, but they have given no other details regarding where they want to go to," the police official said.

Warning shots fired
There have been no reports of injuries, but live television showed one gunman approaching the front of the bus and firing off two warning shots.

"I don't care what they are or who they are. I want them to release my wife," said an elderly man who was among dozens of relatives of hostages who rushed to the scene.

He said he had spoken to his wife by phone.

"She told me she is fine and things are quiet on the bus but she sounded terrified," he said.

As the standoff gripped the nation, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis postponed his departure for a European Union summit in Brussels until Thursday.

Stella Matara, a hostage still on the bus, told state-run television in a mobile phone call that the hijackers, armed with guns and dynamite, had promised to release all women hostages once a driver was provided.

"They want a police bus to leave from in front of our bus, as well as a driver to take them to the airport," Matara said. "As soon as the driver comes, they will release all women. At the airport, they want a plane to take them to Russia, and then they will release the rest of the hostages."

The bus was seized along a highway at a stop in in the suburb of Geraka, about 10 miles east of central Athens, police said.

Albanians involved in previous hijackings
The seizure of the bus was the first such incident since a spate of bus hijackings in Greece in 1999-2000.

In May 1999 an Albanian immigrant demanding ransom hijacked a bus and took it to Albania. A rescue operation by Albanian police killed the hijacker and a passenger.

Two months later, another Albanian immigrant hijacked a bus with similar demands. He was killed by a police sniper.

In November 2000, a Greek hijacked a bus carrying 35 Japanese tourists and released them after negotiations with police. He later died after jumping out of a seventh-story window at police headquarters.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by lucky wilbury
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6715678/

From:Greek bus hijackers set deadline for ransom
Attackers, holding 7 hostages, demand $1 million, flight to Russia

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 1:42 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2004

In November 2000, a Greek hijacked a bus carrying 35 Japanese tourists and released them after negotiations with police. He later died after jumping out of a seventh-story window at police headquarters.

Am I the only one that found that last line to be interesting?:confused:

[Nickdfresh]

Greek bus hijacking ends peacefully
Gunmen release final six hostages
Wednesday, December 15, 2004 Posted: 7:15 PM EST (0015 GMT)


ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Two armed hijackers who had threatened to blow up a commuter bus in Greece released all of their remaining captives early Thursday and surrendered to authorities.

The peaceful conclusion brought a dramatic end to the hostage-taking about 18 hours after it began -- a standoff that gripped much of the nation as the hours ticked by for the hijackers' demands to be met.

The hijackers had demanded €1 million ($1.34 million) and a driver to take them to the Athens airport to be flown to Russia.

They set a deadline of 8 a.m. Thursday (6 .a.m. GMT) and said the bus would be blown up if their demands were not met.

But at around 12:40 a.m. that morning (10:40 p.m. GMT), the hijackers threw three guns from a bus window, and moments later the remaining six hostages slowly walked off the bus with their hands held behind their heads.

Anti-terrorist units moved in quickly and seized the bus without firing a shot.

The gunmen boarded the bus on its third or fourth stop as it headed toward Athens from the suburb of Marathon around 6 a.m. on Wednesday. The bus was carrying 24 passengers, the driver and a ticket counter.

When the men flashed their rifles, the bus driver immediately stopped the coach and opened the doors, hoping to allow the passengers to escape.

The driver, ticket counter and a female passenger fled safely and alerted police.

As the day passed and the standoff continued, the hijackers began releasing passengers, mostly in batches of two and threes.

But late Wednesday, one of the hijackers, who called himself "Hassan," told a local television station of their demands and set the deadline for the bus to be blown up.

At the time, he said no more hostages would be released unless their demands were met.

Police had ruled out international terrorism earlier in the day, saying the hijackers, believed to be Albanians, were criminals seizing an opportunity.

A massive security team responded shortly after the standoff began, with anti-terrorist units encircling the area and snipers taking up positions on rooftops.

The bus remained parked along a road in Marathon, flanked by two police vehicles, and the hijackers closed the curtains on the bus, preventing authorities from seeing inside.

Authorities quickly began negotiations with the two men, who spoke fluent Greek.

Police said they believed the men were criminals and not connected to international terrorism.

Some of the hostages reported that the hijackers treated their captives well, and even served them croissants and water.

Journalist Anthee Carassavas told CNN that police had taken the earlier hostages' release as a positive sign as they tried desperately to defuse the situation through intense negotiation.

The Albanian ambassador to Greece was on the scene, Carassavas reported, and Greece's public order minister made at least two calls to his Albanian counterpart.

Hundreds of thousands of Albanians live in Greece, many of them having arrived to help with construction work for last August's Athens Olympics.

In 2000, an armed man hijacked a bus carrying Japanese tourists in Athens after he allegedly shot and killed his mother-in-law and another man.

He surrendered to authorities after a 12-hour standoff, and the hostages were released mostly unharmed.

The ancient town of Marathon is best known for being the birthplace of the modern day marathon, the grueling 26.2-mile (42 kilometer) road race.

The road where the hijacking occurred had been renovated for this summer's Games and was part of the Olympic marathon course.

CNN's Alessio Vinci and journalists Elisabeth Filippoulis and Anthee Carassavas contributed to this report.


Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report


People exit the bus with their hands behind their heads.
Image:

[Little_Skittles]

wow guys thats like crazy coz lms2 and I were just talking about greece. And that last line about that dude jumping from the 7th story is pretty interesting and suspicous.

[ODShowtime]

If you were being interrogated and didn't want to sing maybe (depending on your level of dedication) you'd kill yourself. It's suspicious, but not totally inconceivable.

[Little_Skittles]

yeah I guess that's kinda right.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
If you were being interrogated and didn't want to sing maybe (depending on your level of dedication) you'd kill yourself. It's suspicious, but not totally inconceivable.

Then again, maybe the Greek Police (notoriously incompetent when it comes to counter-terrorism investigations) wanted to send a subtle message about hijacking Greek buses.

[Little_Skittles]

lol maybe nickdfresh who knows people can get violent.