Probe ordered into teenager’s death in Chios

A prosecutor on the eastern Aegean island of Chios Monday ordered an emergency preliminary investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a teenager who was crushed by a basketball stand at an outdoor court where he was playing on Sunday night.

The 19-year-old was transferred to the local hospital, where he died shortly before midnight, a local website reported. There were no further details on the accident.

Mayor Manolis Vournous, who had been detained for questioning after the incident, was released Monday after it was determined that the basketball court where the 19-year-old was killed was under the jurisdiction of the local community and not the municipality, the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported.

Vournous had appeared voluntarily at a local police station early Monday morning to give his statement to the authorities and was later led before a prosecutor who decided not to charge him with negligent homicide.

The basketball stand was set up at the basketball court at least 20 years ago and did not comply with safety standards, according to the news agency.