Premeditated crime on the Corinth-Patras national road

Four people were burnt alive, including a 5yo child, after the fierce collision of two cars near the Pounta intersection. Paid for in gold, this road has nevertheless claimed so many lives that the iist of victims seems endless, and the ministry of Infrastructure bears grave responsibility for the situation. It is typical that a driver entering the highway from Attiki Odos towards Patras has to pay tolls in the Attiki Odos, Eleusina, Zevgolatio and Aigio, too!

According to the police, the accident took place at about 11pm Monday when for unknown reasons one car drifted over to the opposite direction and collided head-on with the second car.

In one vehicle were three persons of Albanian nationality, among them a boy of just 5, while in the other car was a Greek male, aged 24, a resident of Aigio. He was driving towards Patras and the people from Albania had been heading towards Athens. Apart from the driver and the little boy, there was also a woman, aged 63.

The crash was severe, resulting in both cars bursting into flames. When the fire trucks arrived, they immediately extinguished the fire, but the firefighters found the four dead, since nobody had managed to extricate themselves.
 
Guillotine road

The Athens-Patras part of the national highway is among the most dangerous ones of the network; however, with the collusion of the State and the contractors, it continues to be a road with major problems.

Drivers are required to zigzag their way in one lane with mini construction sites and unsuitable paving reminiscent of old country roads.

This, of course, does not prevent contractors from pocketing the toll fees, which starting next year will become bilateral(drivers will pay in both directions), costing about 1,40 euro on each side.

The concession contract for the reconstruction of the road was signed about three years ago, but delays in expropriations, the archaeological excavations and the shifting of public utility networks have delayed progress for two years already.

A few weeks ago Olympia Odos, the contractor that aims to turn it into a highway, admitted that work is very slow with small sites, since no large unified spaces have been delivered to pick up the pace.

It is estimated that the initial sections of the Athens-Patras highway will begin to be delivered in two years, but there is still uncertainty as to the plan for the approximately 20klm in Ilia, excluded from the design of the project under the EC and State Council decision, after appeals by the residents and the stakeholders of the area.