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'Great Escape' begins from Athens Games
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-31 06:10

Hundreds of thousands of Olympic athletes and visitors began what Greek media termed the "Great Escape" from Athens yesterday in an exodus expected to tax airport staff to the limit.

Officials estimate up to 200,000 people will leave for overseas destinations over the next 48 hours while thousands of Athenians who delayed summer holidays until the end of the Games will head for Aegean islands and family reunions across Greece.

"Until August 31 we expect a huge wave of departures," said Athens airport spokeswoman Marina Papageorgiou.

"The day after (Sunday's) closing ceremony is the toughest one," she said.

Among efforts to ensure smooth departures are a ban on entry into airport terminals to non-ticket holders and strict parking and traffic restrictions.

Greek media said the "Great Escape" is the biggest mass departure Athens has had to cope with.

Yesterday alone, about 70,000 athletes, officials and foreign visitors boarded some 900 flights with almost as many departures today.

The number of flights is 50 per cent more than for an average August, Greece's peak holiday month.

But it will not only be athletes, sports officials and foreign visitors who will leave the capital.

"September is finally here and I will be leaving," said central Athens cafe owner Dimitris Karaiosifoglou. "We did our duty for the Olympics and now it's time to rest."

About 4,000 top security personnel brought to Athens from around the country will also go home after being called up for Olympic duty.

Many of the some 45,000 volunteers who helped out at the Games will also return to their homes across Greece.

But many police and troops will have to wait until the end of the Paralympics in late September before getting a break from gruelling duties they have carried out since the start of August as part of the biggest security operation in peacetime Europe.

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