Greece: investigation reveals source of the deadly Athens explosion

An investigation by Greece’s Directorate for Arson Prevention (DAEE) has found that a natural gas leak that caused a deadly explosion in an apartment building in the coastal town of Plaka in eastern Greece started in a second-floor apartment where an elderly couple lived.

According to well-informed sources, the investigation of the central natural gas transmission network found no leaks, and neither did the leak test carried out at the street gas pipeline distribution joint, the Protothema portal reports. Investigators believe the leak occurred in a second-floor apartment — the only one connected to the network.

Three appliances were connected in the apartment: a stove, a fireplace and a water heater, but the exact point of the leak has not yet been identified. Florina Hoxha and her husband Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick, Eris Cani and her husband Florin Hoxha, as well as the elderly couple Atena Paparescu and Edmond Hings, died in the deadly explosion and the collapse of the building on Lysicratus Street in Plaka.

The explosion, which occurred on Friday morning at around 07:30, caused extensive damage to neighboring buildings and parked vehicles. Two women were rescued from the neighboring building and taken to hospital, while one person was slightly injured. For now, police have ruled out the possibility that the explosion was the result of a criminal act.