Passengers were still being held on a Greek commuter bus tonight by two armed Albanians whose bungled hijack stalled where it began when the driver escaped with the ignition keys.

The Albanian ambassador to Greece Bashkim Zeneli has said police in Greece asked for his help because they thought the hijackers were Albanian.

A bus with 26 commuters on board was hijacked as it travelled from Marathon to Athens by two armed men, believed to be Albanians, today,