An arrested hijacker who murdered two Greeks and took 33 Japanese tourists hostage died yesterday after falling from a seventh-storey window of Greece's police headquarters.
The death of Christos Kendiras (48), brought embarrassment on police just one day after they successfully persuaded him to end a 10-hour hostage crisis.
The government ordered an "immediate investigation" into the death, which occurred less than an hour before the suspect was due to appear before a public prosecutor.
Kendiras shot dead his mother-in-law and a friend on Saturday after accusing his wife of being unfaithful. He then commandeered a bus with elderly Japanese tourists, threatening them with a shotgun and a container filled with petrol.
After the bus zigzagged across parts of southern Greece, the gunman surrendered. Police said Kendiras committed suicide after his handcuffs were released to have his fingerprints taken. He broke away from four officers guarding him and hurled himself through a window of the central Athens police building.
"This was an unlucky moment for the Greek police, especially after the successful operation to safeguard the lives of the hostages," said Mr Dimitris Efstathiadis, general secretary of Greece's public order ministry. Critics demanded further clarification.