The crash

Manolis Rodousakis, a businessman from Chania, died on Saturday, 17 October 2026, after his car collided with a van at the Platanias junction on the Northern Road of Crete (BOAK). Most reports put the crash shortly after 3pm, while one says it happened around midday. Firefighters were sent to free the occupants, and Rodousakis was removed from the wreckage without consciousness. His wife was taken to hospital in Chania as a precaution, although another report says she was injured but avoided serious harm. Traffic police at BOAK are investigating the conditions of the crash, and the authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry into its causes.

Accounts of the collision

The van was carrying three children, according to several outlets. A report cited by in.gr, which relied on neakriti.gr, gives a different picture: the 78-year-old driver's car left its lane, entered the opposite carriageway and struck the van head-on. In that version the van carried a Swiss family of five, the parents and three children aged 4 to 12, who had just collected the vehicle at Heraklion airport and were heading to a hotel in Kamisiana, Kolymvari. One report also says a young child was injured, with head wounds, which the other accounts do not mention. Because these details come from single reports or conflict with each other, they remain unconfirmed in the sources available.

The 2024 campaign

In December 2024 Rodousakis's fuel station in Kissamos announced that it would no longer supply fuel to motorcycles of any engine size if the driver or passenger was not wearing a safety helmet. The decision followed a fatal crash involving a teenage motorcyclist, and the station said the change would take effect the next day, 11 December 2024. The Chania petrol station association took up the policy, according to Giannis Drakakakis, a deputy mayor and former head of the association, and it spread across Crete before reaching other parts of Greece. The Federation of Greek Petrol Station Owners also welcomed the campaign, which aimed to get riders to wear helmets and reduce road deaths.

Reaction and background

Giannis Drakakakis paid tribute to Rodousakis after the crash.

“This man tried to save people from road accidents, and unfortunately he died in one himself.”

According to iefimerida, Rodousakis ran a car dealership on Kissamou street in Chania, a building materials yard and the fuel station in Kissamos. In2 reports from Crete and across Greece described grief over his death. His wife had chaired the Association for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Crete, known as the Venizeleio Odeio.