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Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-08-16Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Cyprus passengers possibly unconscious at time of crash, coroner findsAt least six of the passengers on board Cyprus' Helios Airways flight 522 were still alive at the time the airplane crashed into the mountainous region of Grammatiko, 40 km north of Athens, on Sunday afternoon, coroner Philippos Kotsaftis concluded on Monday evening.Autopsies performed on six victims showed that their heart and lungs were functioning at the time of the crash. "I cannot rule out that they may have been unconscious," Kotsaftis said, but it is also possible that they were fully conscious. Kotsaftis said that autopsies will be performed on all the other bodies to determine if and how many were alive at the time the plane went down. He said that 80 bodies were unrecongnisable and charred. Asked whether victims had frozen during the flight, Kotsaftis said that their exposure to the sun and the fire that followed the crash makes it impossible to determine. Finally, he said toxicology reports will help provide more definite answers. [02] Tuesday declared day of mourning for air crash victimsMinister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation Prokopis Pavlopoulos has declared Tuesday as a public day of mourning for the 121 victims of Cyprus' Helios Airways flight 522 which crashed into a mountain 40 km north of Athens on Sunday afternoon.Flags will be at half-mast, while three moments of silence will be observed at 12 noon throughout the private and public sector. [03] PM to meet with Development MinisterPrime Minister Costas Karamanlis will be meeting with Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas at Maximos Mansion on Tuesday to discuss the impact of soaring oil prices on the Greek market.International oil prices have been breaking consecutive record-highs, currently approaching $67/barrel. A cabinet meeting will be held on Wednesday, while Karamanlis will be meeting with President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos on Thursday to discuss the latest developments surrounding the Cyprus issue. [04] Bank workers strike in protest at pensions lawBank employees are to stage a 24-hour strike on Tuesday to protest against a new law on pensions.The stoppage follows a long weekend due to a public holiday on August 15. The OTOE trade union says the law will hurt many of its members by raising the pensionable age and lowering supplementary pensions. Before the bill gained parliamentary approval, the union had sought a single supplementary pension system for the sector and opposed alignment of pensions with the main state fund. Bank employees staged a series of weekly 24-hour strikes in January and February this year and again in the spring before the bill became law after rejecting proposals by the government and employers. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |