Newsday

Survivors Sought in Copter Crash

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Rescuers battled gale-force winds Monday with fading hopes of finding survivors from an ambulance helicopter that plunged into the sea with five people aboard.

The chopper went down Sunday during a fierce storm near Cape Sounion, about 45 miles southeast of Athens, while transporting a heart patient to Athens from the island of Patmos.

Some wreckage from the helicopter was found shortly after the crash. But rescuers have been hampered by rough seas and strong winds driven by the storm, the merchant marine ministry said.

The storm brought torrential rain, causing power outages in Athens and widespread flooding. In Corinth, about 30 miles west of the capital, more than 150 homes and stores were inundated by flash floods.

On the Ionian Sea island of Zakynthos, the coast guard also continued to search for an 8-year-old girl who fell into the sea Sunday. The girl's mother and uncle drowned while trying to save her, authorities said.

Elsewhere in the country, at least eight people were killed in traffic accidents blamed on the bad weather.

AP-NY-01-15-01 0849EST< 

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 15, 2001