Α 29-year-old motorcycle police officer was killed in the early morning hours of Monday after he collided with another police car involved in a chase of a stolen vehicle on the west-bound lane of the Athens-Corinth highway, near the Aspropyrgos junction.

His partner, riding on the pillion seat, was also seriously injured, but is in stable condition with bone fractures but no cranial damage.

Police gave chase to two vehicles carrying suspected car thieves in the near-Piraeus district of Nikaia at roughly 4 a.m.

When one of the two fleeing vehicles attempted to switch directions police cruisers blocked its path and, in the process, stopped abruptly, resulting in the collision.

The fallen officer hails from the western port city of Patras, and has a brother who is also a policeman.