Greek film director dies after accident during shooting

Greek award-winning director Theo Angelopoulos died at the age of 77 in an Athens hospital on Tuesday, hours after a motorbike ran him over while he was filming a movie on the debt crisis rocking the country.

Winner of awards including the prestigious Cannes Palme D'Or prize in 1998 for "Eternity and a day" and the Cannes Grand Jury Prize in 1995 for "Ulysses' Gaze," Angelopoulos had started shooting his new film "The other sea" earlier this month.

The film was about the impact of the crisis in everyday life in Greece.

Angelopoulos was crossing a road when he was hit by the motorcycle. He was immediately transferred to hospital.

"He was in the middle of a shooting when the motorcycle hit him. He suffered multiple brain injuries and internal bleeding," said a police official who declined to be named. The motorcycle belonged to a policeman who was off duty, the official said.