Hijacker of Greek Bus Killed

As the Albanian hijacker holding two armed grenades began to doze off Thursday, an army private being held hostage on a bus grabbed his captor as police stormed in.

The hijacker was killed in the ensuing struggle, but the five hostages emerged from the bus unscathed.

The rescue plan ending the two-day hijacking drama called for a hostage--20-year-old army Pvt. Nestoras Kokkalis--to confront the hijacker directly.

For the task, Kokkalis was equipped with two grenade pins an officer had given him through a window. He was told to secure the grenades once the hijacker dozed.

Once the unidentified Albanian decided to nap Thursday, Kokkalis jumped him. He squeezed one of the hands holding a grenade while an entering police officer rushed to grab the other grenade and throw it off the bus.

A sharpshooter then killed the hijacker. Another officer put a pin in the other grenade.

The outcome is a relief to the government, which has been under pressure from accusations of police incompetence and public fears that illegal immigrants are causing a rise in crime.

“We needed this,” said Florina police chief Costantinos Tzekis of the raid on a country road six miles east of his northern town.

The hijacker commandeered the bus Wednesday and apparently tried to cross into Albania. He had demanded $781,000 and two automatic weapons.