Bus hijack in Athens

[Colossus 2]

BBC News:

Quote[/b] ]<span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'>Greek passengers held at gunpoint</span>

About 26 passengers are being held hostage at gunpoint on a bus in the Greek capital Athens

Armed officers have surrounded the vehicle, which was hijacked just before dawn on its route from the town of Marathon into central Athens.

The driver of the bus escaped. The head of the bus company said the hijackers wanted to be taken to Athens airport.

Witnesses said at least two shots were fired at police when they arrived at the scene shortly after the takeover.

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

He said a group of negotiators had arrived at the scene, outside a nightclub.

Motive unknown

The bus was seized at about 0600 (0400 GMT).

Besides the driver, the ticket inspector and a passenger also managed to get away, reports said.

The gunmen are said to be carrying hunting rifles or shotguns.

A police official quoted anonymously by the AFP news agency said they were Russian, and wanted to be flown to Russia.

Earlier police had suggested they were Albanian.

The head of the bus company told an Athens radio station that the men had demanded a driver to replace the one that escaped.

Roads nearby were cut off by police, ambulances parked near the scene, a helicopter hovered overhead and news crews were being held back.

The curtains of the bus were drawn.

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.

CNN

SkyNews

BBC news

[cozza 24]

sad

hope the greek police solve this soon without harm to the hostages

[Colossus 2]

What I don't get is why Russians in Greece takes hostages.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

What I don't get is why Russians in Greece takes hostages.

Mafia.

Quote[/b] ]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.

That's why there hasn't been a hijack in 5 years. In both cases they were done within 6 hours.

When are criminals going to realise that taking a bus hostage has only one outcome - dead hostage takers

Fools

[Mr_Tea 0]

I hope they have good Police Snipers over there, and a chance to use them. If everything goes perfect you have 2 deat hijackers and noone other get injured.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

I hope they have good Police Snipers over there, and a chance to use them. If everything goes perfect you have 2 deat hijackers and noone other get injured.

Read above

[gandalf the white 0]

why are they dongi this?

let's hope they don't detonate any explosives... that would be horrible.

[Mr_Tea 0]

The head of the bus company said the hijackers wanted to be taken to Athens airport.

NO WAY.

They wanted to be taken to airport. To do what? Hijack a plane? They must be very stupid. No country would play this game with you, and let you escape with a plane full of hostages.

[gandalf the white 0]

maybe when they hqve anthrax or VX, but not 24 civillians (now about 18).

[ralphwiggum 6]

hmmm.let's see....hijack an airplane to moscow, detonate themselves in cockpit above moscow......sounds familiar?

i'm guessing Greek authorities are feeling like GIGN guys 9 years ago(actually minus 1 week or so).

[Leveler 0]

The police will try and negotiate it. They will probably think twice before they send a squad in, they have a history of fu**ups.

[Leveler 0]

Well, this is officially over. It was just two poor fools, nationality Albanian, who wanted some money and an airplane to get them out of the country. They held up to the last hour 2 men and 4 women. Members of their families contacted them and persuaded them to give up. Glad that noone got shot although I think the police would have pulled this off, there were only six hostages and the two guys were not that determined.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

The police will try and negotiate it. They will probably think twice before they send a squad in, they have a history of fu**ups.

No we don't have a history of fuck-ups, certainly nowhere near as bad as Delta Force or German police pre-GSG-9.

We've been dealing with these fools for years, they will never understand. Bet ya someone's gonna try it soon again. Only that guy will get shot dead quickly, to get the message across.

[Colossus 2]

Happy ending

Quote[/b] ]<span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'>Greek bus hijacking ends peacefully</span>

Gunmen release final six hostages

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.

[ralphwiggum 6]

glad that it's peacefully over

[Tamme 0]

What was the point of all this? To get out of Greece? You'll never get away with a stupid stunt like that. There ought to be a lot of better, easier and safer ways to accomplish that. Ugh.. Stupid..

Anyway, I'm glad it ended peacefully

[Colossus 2]

There was no bomb and they had two hunting rifles.

If I'm gone risk my life for money like that I would at least have something to arm me with

(Not that I am that kind of person that hijacking busses and treatning to blow it up, thats just sick)

One of the national newspapers called them "short-minded bandits",

Glad nobody got hurt

[DarkLight 0]

I do wonder, has anyone ever hijacked a plane or a bus or anything like that without being killed or arrested afterwards?

No, seriously, i haven't heard such a story yet.

For some strange reason criminals are dumb enough to think their great plans will work out juuuuust fine. How old are these smartasses anyway? Didn't they get some education?

Either some sniper blows their brains out, they blow themselves up or they have to surrender.

Oh well

I don't mind as long as they don't hurt anyone but themselves.

[Winters 1]

For some strange reason criminals are dumb enough to think their great plans will work out juuuuust fine.  How old are these smartasses anyway?  Didn't they get some education?  

No, thats why they are criminals.

[gandalf the white 0]

For some strange reason criminals are dumb enough to think their great plans will work out juuuuust fine. How old are these smartasses anyway? Didn't they get some education?

No, thats why they are criminals.

last time i posted a "owned" image i got warned and suspended, let's try something else now...

well, it's good that the hijackers surrendered, thinking they would get away with X in money and X in a plane they can't fly is just stupid...

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

They're lucky that they escaped unharmed, especially considering what we usually do with bus hijackers

Although, unlike the previous two times, the hostage situation was this time in Athens, rather than somewhere out in the wilderness. Perhaps they didn't want to have a shoot-out in a built-up area?