Menidi

Large pockets of crime and lawlessness that are no-go areas even for the country's police officers are the product of political cowardice and an overall haphazard and hasty approach to what is in fact a very serious matter.

The killing of an 11-year-old boy by a stray bullet last week and the tensions stoked by the incident in one of Attica's most downgraded districts, have prompted local authorities in Menidi to increase demands for more policing and specifically for a new police station near the school where they boy died.

Two houses in the Roma community of Avliza in Menidi, northwestern Attica, suffered damages on Sunday evening from fires that, police suspect, were caused by Molotov cocktails.

A 23-year-old Roma from the area of Menidi was arrested as the main suspect for the death of an 11-year-old student, who suffered a fatal head wound from a stray bullet while attending a school celebration last Thursday.

More than 250 police officers were dispatched to Menidi, northwestern Attica, on Friday evening to determine who fired the stray bullet that killed an 11-year-old boy during an open-air party for schoolchildren on Thursday night.

After large scale operations in Roma camps in the Menidi area in east Attica, involving SWAT units and the rounding up of a number of suspects, Greek police have reportedly identified the house where a stray bullet came from killing a 10-year old boy named Marios on Thursday.

An 11-year-old boy has died after being struck by a stray bullet in Menidi, eastern Attica, authorities said Friday.

The incident took place during an outdoor school celebration with other children on Thursday. The boy was rushed to hospital after he collapsed in the schoolyard. Emergency staff were told he had fainted.

Greek police have issued a “silver alert” for a 29-year-old mother of three from the area of Menidi, Attica who has gone missing. Gianna Chatzimanolakis has been missing since Tuesday, April 25. Her sister, Anastasia, revealed to protothema.gr that the family think she might be suffering from depression. “She just disappeared. She hadn’t told us anything. She didn’t have anywhere to go to.

Heavy rainfalls in the Attica area during Sunday morning have caused serious problems in the city of Athens and surrounding suburbs. From 2.30am the fire department received hundreds of emergency calls for flooded house basements and trapped car drivers, while numerous streets were inaccessible due to the sudden deluge.

A 40-year-old Greek man died after his car was swept away by floods in Menidi, Athens while one woman is still missing in Kamatero due to the intense rainfall that hit Attica and other areas of Greece on Thursday.