Rescuers recovered six bodies on Saturday from the rubble of a two-storey building destroyed by an explosion in Plaka, the historic district at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. Everyone believed to have been inside the building is now accounted for, all of them dead.
The blast struck on Lysikratous Street shortly before 8 a.m. on Friday, 25 September, collapsing the building and damaging neighbouring houses, shops and vehicles. It was heard across central Athens.
Documents and belongings found with four of the victims — two men and two women — identified them as US citizens, NBC News reported, citing Greek state broadcaster ERT and other local media. The first-floor flat was a short-term tourist rental. The tourists had been booked on a flight out of Athens on Friday afternoon and never checked in.
The second floor was the permanent home of an elderly couple — a 77-year-old British man and a 78-year-old woman born in Athens, Greek City Times reported. Police had tried to reach them by telephone and got no answer. The ground floor was unoccupied.
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said the explosion was believed to have been caused by a major gas leak, and that neighbouring buildings were damaged and evacuated. “Something went terribly wrong,” he said in remarks carried by Hiru News from Reuters. A specialist unit from the fire service’s Arson Crimes Division is working to establish the cause.
Around 30 firefighters worked through the night with six vehicles, two specialist rescue vehicles from the 1st EMAK emergency unit, three search dogs, sound-detection equipment and cameras, halting work periodically to listen for signs of life.
Two figures do not agree
The wire copy circulating on Saturday morning — the version Hiru News published — reported one dead and five missing, and said three people were injured. It was overtaken during the day: all six were found dead.
On the injured, accounts still differ. The early report gives three; NBC and Greek City Times both describe two women hurt in an adjacent building and taken to hospital. We have not been able to resolve the difference.
