New barrage of arson attacks in Attica

Authorities were on alert on Wednesday following the third day in a row of arson attacks on cars in central Athens and in the affluent northern suburbs of Maroussi and Agia Paraskevi in the early hours of the morning.

There were three attacks in Maroussi between 1.05 and 1.40 a.m., with unidentified assailants torching a total of 11 cars, five of which were totally destroyed.

A total of 20 firefighters and seven engines were dispatched to deal with the blazes. At 2.25 a.m., another team of five firefighters were sent to extinguish a car that had been set on fire in Agia Paraskevi.

Five minutes later, arsonists targeted the outdoor car park outside the Dora Stratou Theater at Philopappou Hill near central Athens, torching three vans.

Ten firefighters and four engines were sent out for that job. Another incident at 2.45 a.m. left two cars scorched near Mount Hymettus and at 3.15 the final attack targeted two vans in Kypseli.

There were no reports of any injuries.