A woman was pulled dead from the rubble of an old building in the central Athens district of “Plaka“, which collapsed after a powerful explosion. Rescue teams are continuing to search for five more people, “Proto Thema“ reports.
Earlier, the number of people missing was increased to six after authorities received additional information about people who were likely in the building at the time of the explosion. Two passports and a bag with personal belongings were found during the search. According to Greek media, these findings have helped to establish the identities of the people believed to have been in the building.
Over 30 firefighters are involved in the search
The rescue operation involves over 30 firefighters, employees of the specialized disaster response unit EMAK and three search and rescue dogs. Technical means are also being used to detect people under the rubble, ERT reports.
The explosion occurred shortly after 07:30 local time on September 25. One person was slightly injured by debris, and two women were taken from a neighboring building and taken to hospital.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Initial theories include a gas leak, but there is currently no final conclusion on the causes of the collapse.
Previous incident in the „Petralona“ neighborhood
At the end of June, a four-story residential building collapsed in the Athens neighborhood of „Petralona“ during construction work on a neighboring property. No one was injured in this incident.
Sources: BTA, Proto Thema, ERT