Authorities in Greece say unidentified thieves are stealing vital medical equipment from hospitals around the country.
Four hospitals in total have been targeted, firstly in Athens and now in the cities of Volos, Lamia and Larisa, which were hit over the last few days.
The thieves made off with numerous equipment used for colonoscopy and gastroscopy tests, after breaking into parts of the hospitals that were shut and locked over the weekend.
Last week, similar equipment worth around 400,000 euros ($438,000) was stolen from an Athens Cancer Hospital. It has not been confirmed if all are linked. Athens police say seven pieces of machinery were taken and Hospital officials told Greek media most of the state-of-the-art equipment had been purchased with the help of private donations and doctors would now have to use older machinery again.
A similar incident of medical equipment theft took place on April 23 at the Center Hospitalier de Luxembourg, where 20 new endoscopes (gastroscopes and colonoscopes) worth more than 800,000 euros were stolen.
Police are currently working to track down the thieves, who it is believed, may be working with a criminal organisation that is selling on the equipment in Balkan countries and in Africa, where the demand in the black market is high.
in Greece