A Greek tax official dies seven months after the ax attack on the charge

TESSALONIKI – A tax office employee who had been attacked with an ax at his workplace nearly seven months ago was killed, a Greek hospital administrator said on Sunday.

The 56-year-old employee, who had serious head injuries and was in a coma, died Saturday afternoon, Eleni Takouda, administrator of Thessaloniki’s private “Blue Cross” clinic, told the Associated Press on Sunday.

The victim had planned to go to a rehabilitation center abroad, but restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic had delayed her transfer, said Ilias Zoumboulis, head of the association of tax agents in Western Macedonia.

The employee, who was not named, was attacked when a 45-year-old man entered the tax office in the northwestern city of Kozani on July 16 without being subjected to any security checks, only a check of its temperature. Once inside, he pulled a small ax from a plastic bag he was carrying and attacked the man and two women employed in the head and face, shouting, “Did you like that?” and “That’s what you deserve,” according to witnesses.

It was unclear what the attacker’s motives were and he was apparently not known to the victims.

A third woman was injured when she fell down a ladder while fleeing in panic. The man was detained by two employees who threw themselves at him. He was arrested the same day and charged with attempted murder and several aggravated assaults

The victim survives his wife and a 15-year-old son, according to local media.