Suspected arson in Nea Ionia café fire; extortion unit takes over investigation

Greek police suspect that behind the fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday morning at a café in Nea Ionia, north of Athens, lies a deliberate arson attack, as eKathimerini reports. The investigation into the fire, which spread rapidly to the three apartment floors above the café, has passed to the Extortion unit of the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, also known as the “Greek FBI”, according to ProtoThema’s reporting.

The fire broke out around 04:25 on the ground floor of the building, where the café (a shisha bar) is located on Kastamonis street. The flames spread rapidly to the upper floors, causing major damage and forcing six residents to evacuate urgently, eKathimerini reports. Residents said that before the fire broke out they heard a loud noise: a woman told state broadcaster ERT she heard a powerful explosion and, seconds later, saw flames outside her window; according to her, within about half an hour the fire had engulfed nearly the entire building. Eighteen firefighters with five vehicles and an aerial ladder arrived at the scene, evacuating residents — some from the rooftop — and then working to extinguish the flames.

According to ProtoThema’s reporting, Extortion unit officers have been at the scene from the first moment and are conducting investigations, while police will verify whether the fire was set deliberately: protothema.gr’s information indicates traces have been found that “point to” arson. Meanwhile the investigation into the fire’s exact causes continues, with the possibility of a gas canister not excluded either. According to the same report, the café’s ownership has changed over the past year and a 22-year-old foreigner is listed as the owner.

Investigators’ attention was also drawn by the fact that at the same café, in February 2023, a shooting episode occurred in which a client lost his life, as police sources cited by eKathimerini point out. According to ProtoThema, the episode began when a group of seven Albanians arrived at the café and started arguing before sitting down; the group then went out onto the street outside the café, where one of them drew a pistol and fired. As a result, a 37-year-old Albanian was wounded in the collarbone, who had no connection to the group and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The injured man was taken to KAT hospital, where he died shortly before 03:00 after losing a lot of blood. The group of seven disappeared in an unknown direction and, according to police sources, was suspected of belonging to a gang.

The Extortion unit’s investigations continue, while the fire damage is extensive: the fire department says the upper floors’ balconies suffered considerable damage, while a bedroom in a second-floor apartment was completely destroyed.