A tragic incident occurred at 7:30 a.m. Monday morning, December 29, in Attiki Odos in Athens, Greece, near the exit of Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos.” A Smart car exploded while in motion, resulting in the death of the 35-year-old Albanian driver and injuring the 26-year-old female passenger.
At first Greek authorities were considering that the driver of the vehicle was carrying a grenade, which exploded for unknown reasons, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the car had been booby-trapped with an explosive device which exploded shortly after the car engine ignited.
According to Greek police, the incident was part of settling scores between night circuits, while it was stated that the 35-year-old driver was working as a bouncer in a nightclub. There was no evidence of a terrorist attack.
The Albanian man was driving to the airport with his girlfriend, rushing to make their flight to Tirana. When the explosion occurred, the car overturned, caught on fire and continued moving for a few more minutes until it came to a halt. Both passengers were rescued at the scene but the driver passed away while he was being transferred to the hospital.
According to Greek news reports, three more cars piled on the vehicle after it exploded but no one was injured.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
