Gunmen seized a bus with about two dozen passengers aboard in Athens suburbs early on Wednesday, and the hostage takers were believed to be Albanians, Greek police said.

The bus was on a route from the town of Marathon, east of Athens, to the city center when it was hijacked several hours before dawn at 5:45 (03:45 GMT) at a stop in the suburb of Geraka.

The bus driver and the ticket collector managed to escape from the bus. The driver told police the gunmen were most likely Albanians.

The police said the gunmen fired shots at the police who surrounded the bus.

Police cars have sealed off traffic along the eastern Athens highway and a group of negotiators have arrived at the scene to talk to the gunmen.

Nikos Koutsogiorgos, chief of the bus company told reporters that the gunmen were demanding to go to Athens airport.

"I talked with one of the passengers on the bus over her mobile phone and she told me the gunmen want a new driver to take them straight to the airport so that they can leave the country."

A police spokesman said it was not clear what prompted the seizure.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2004)