More than 10 vehicles torched overnight in central Athens

More than 10 vehicles, among them five school buses, were set ablaze in an arson attack in the Zografou district of central Athens, shortly after 3 a.m. on Thursday. 

The fire is believed to have started from the school buses and spread to the other vehicles, destroying five school busses, four cars and three motorcycles, all parked on Taxilou Street.

The school busses belong to a private school located on the same street. Television footage from the area showed that the flames had reached the school’s wall.

“At 3 a.m. my phone started ringing with parents who live in the neighborhood calling and they told me about [the blaze],” the school owner, Stella Fragoulis told Kathimerini. 

“There could have been casualties, because there are apartments around here. We don’t have a problem with anyone, I really can’t understand why this happened. All our school buildings and some cars of neighbours were burnt,” she added.

Another local resident said he saw a flash at about 3 a.m. and looked out his window to see the school buses burning. His two motorcycles, parked on the same street, were destroyed. 

It was not clear who the target of the attack was. A similar arson attack took place last Sunday, where at least five vehicles were completely destroyed.

The incident is being investigated by state security.

A video of the incident posted on YouTube by the account John Pappas shows the size of the blaze.