ATHENS, Dec 15 (AFP) - Gunmen who commandeered a bus near Athens and demanded a ransom and safe conduct out of the country released four men and one woman Wednesday, police said, bringing to 17 the total number of passengers set free.
Six people -- four women and two men -- were still being held hostage.
But the two hostage-takers, thought to be Albanians, threatened to blow up the bus with the remaining passengers onboard early Thursday if their demands -- a one million-euro (1.3 million dollars) in ransom and a plane to be flown out of country -- were not met.
"I am going to wait until tomorrow at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) for the banks to open and at 8:00 am I will light the fuse unless I have the money and a driver. I am not going to release anybody else. It is over," one of the two men told the private television station Alter.
The man, who identified himself as Hassam, later confirmed to private television station Mega that he wanted a one million-euro ransom and a new driver. "Otherwise I will blow up the bus," he threatened before cutting off the conversation.
An Albanian national and a Greek woman left the bus at 7:10 pm, followed 20 minutes later by three other men -- an Afghan, a Greek and a Kashmiri Indian --, a police spokeswoman said.
Earlier, six women and six men -- 10 Greeks, one Bulgarian and one Albanian -- were freed in stages between 11:40 am and 5:10 pm.
The bus driver, the ticket collector and one woman passenger had managed to escape when the gunmen stormed the bus around 5:45 am on a thoroughfare in the suburb of Gerakas.
12/15/2004 19:25 GMT - AFP