Greek landmine explosion kills four, injures three
Date: 24-Dec-01
Country: GREECE
"We have four people dead and three injured, one of them in very critical condition," a police official at the border town of Ferres said.
The explosion occurred when the immigrants, all men who had just entered the country on foot, stepped inside one of the many fenced-off and marked minefields separating traditional foes Greece and Turkey.
Police believe recent heavy snow and freezing temperatures made it difficult for the Iraqis to see the minefield's warning signs and fences.
All seven victims were taken to hospital in the nearby city of Alexandroupolis.
In a separate incident, police on the eastern Aegean island of Symi arrested 18 illegal immigrants - 16 Afghans and two Iranians - who had disembarked from a Turkish-flagged vessel early on Sunday.
Thousands of illegal immigrants try to cross into Greece every year, either through its land borders or by crossing the Aegean sea from western Turkey.
