Athens ignored warnings before gas blast killed six people
By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York ·
A gas explosion in the Plaka district killed six people, including four Americans, after city officials ignored a year of warnings about infrastructure risks.
The city of Athens failed its people. Six people died on Friday when a gas explosion leveled a residential building in the Plaka district. Four of the dead were American tourists. Two were an elderly couple. This was not an unavoidable accident. It was a predictable failure of municipal oversight.
The city ignored the warnings
The disaster followed a year of explicit warnings. CBS News said a residents' association in Plaka sent a letter to the city and utility companies a year ago. They warned about the risks of gas leaks and short circuits. The city did not act.
The danger was present on the day of the blast. A citizens' group said on social media that one resident on the street alerted authorities after smelling a gas leak. The warning went unheeded.
City officials might argue the blast came from a private appliance. They would say the city cannot monitor every stove in Plaka. But the residents' association warned about the municipal risks. The city chose not to act.
A building vanishes in the blast
The explosion occurred shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Friday. It destroyed a three-storey building on a small road between the Acropolis and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The force of the blast caused the building to collapse completely.
The 2010 Upper San Fernando Valley Municipal Construction Company building collapse shares the same mechanism. In both cases, structural failure leads to the sudden collapse of a residential or commercial building.
The blast sent rubble and shattered glass three blocks away. It damaged nearby homes, shops, and vehicles. A nearby church was also damaged. The church pastor said Sunday services would be held outdoors.
The people in the rubble
The victims were a mix of visitors and locals. Four Americans rented an apartment on the first floor. They were a couple, their son, and his girlfriend. They were preparing to go to the airport for a flight when the blast hit. Fox News said documents and belongings recovered with the victims proved their citizenship.
On the second floor lived an elderly couple. The man was a British national. His wife was a Greek woman. Both died in the collapse.
The search for the bodies lasted until Saturday afternoon. Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, the fire brigade spokesman, said firefighters searched for the elderly couple and the tourists. The operation used 30 firefighters and three dogs. Rescue teams used geophones to detect sounds beneath the rubble. They used thermal-imaging cameras to pinpoint trapped people.
Two women from an adjacent building on Lysikratous Street were injured. Resident Andreas Martzaklis said all people rescued from that building were tourists. Mathaios Artavanis owned the ground-floor apartment but was absent during the blast.
The failure of leadership
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas called the event an "incredible disaster." This description is wrong. A disaster is an act of nature. This was a failure of policy. Doukas is a Professor of energy policy and management at the National Technical University of Athens. He knows how gas infrastructure fails. He should have known the risks in the Plaka district.
The Acropolis welcomed 4.6 million visitors last year. The city relies on these tourists. Yet it allowed a residential building to become a bomb.
U.S. Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle expressed grief over the deaths. She said the U.S. Embassy is providing consular assistance to the families. The BBC said local police confirmed the tourists were missing when they did not arrive for their flight.
Historical patterns show that gas explosions in old cities lead to municipal audits. This time is no different. Citizens should ask why a city with an energy policy professor as mayor ignored a year of safety warnings.
The city will now be forced to act. The Greek government will likely mandate a municipal gas infrastructure audit across the Plaka district within 60 days. Ambassador Guilfoyle will likely coordinate a joint traveler safety initiative on rental compliance within 30 days. The fire service will likely permanently station thermal imaging and geophone equipment in historic districts within 90 days. These steps are necessary, but they are late. They arrive only after people were buried under a building the city knew was dangerous.
Sources
- Fox News: Four American tourists among 6 killed after explosion levels building near Athens’ Acropolis
- BBC: Athens explosion: Six dead in blast near Acropolis in Plaka district
- CBS News: 4 American tourists dead after building explosion and collapse in Athens
- Euronews: Six dead after explosion causes building to collapse in central Athens
- BBC: British national among six dead in building explosion close to Acropolis in Athens