Shipyard explosion near Athens kills eight, injures four

by Amy Judd | July 25, 2008 at 08:39 am

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An explosion and fire on a ship at a dockyard near Athens has killed eight people and injured four.

The ship was undergoing repairs at the time.

Rescue crews were trying to remove the final three bodies from the Panamanian-flagged Friendship Gas tanker ship at the Perama shipyard west of the Greek capital, the Merchant Marine Ministry said.

The ministry said Friday that two people have been arrested on suspicion of not maintaining safety standards. It said at least one of the dead was Filipino.

Dockworkers threw rocks and ripped up fencing outside the ministry's headquarters in Piraeus, 19 kilometres west of Athens, during a march Friday to protest the deaths and complain about safety conditions. Riot police fired tear gas to disperse them.

The dockworkers called a three-day strike to protest one of the worst accidents to have hit the industry in Greece in recent years.

Greek labour unions and opposition parties have now accused the government of ignoring poor safety standards at the Perama dockyards, which is 12 miles west of Athens.