Three people have been injured after a residential building collapsed following a powerful explosion in the bustling historic centre of Athens on Friday, damaging surrounding homes, shops and vehicles.
The cause of the blast inside the two-storey property in the Plaka district — located close to famous landmarks such as the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus — is currently unknown. Debris and shattered glass were hurled up to three blocks away.
An elderly couple who lived on the second floor of the building were still unaccounted for and not responding to calls on Friday afternoon, according to local media.
Police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou informed public broadcaster ERT that fire service inspectors were still assessing the scene.
"It was like the whole building, the whole block blew off. That's how strong it was," said local resident Andreas Martzaklis.
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Emergency responders and ambulances swarmed the area as smoke gathered over the ancient monuments. The structure on Lysikratous Street was reduced to a wreckage of buckled metal, destroyed balconies and suspended concrete slabs.
Authorities said a passer-by was injured. Two women who had been trapped in an adjacent building were rescued and being treated in hospital.
A witness who was driving past at the time of the explosion recalled hearing a loud bang and then being thrown into the air by the explosion.
“I didn't understand anything about what was happening to me ... Everything around me exploded. No flash, nothing. Just a loud explosion. A bang. The car rose into the air! The car rose into the air and then it sat down again,” he told the Orange Press Agency.
The ground floor of the building is understood to have been uninhabited, while the first floor was rented out as an Airbnb, and an elderly couple lived on the second floor, according to Greek tabloid Ethnos.
Andreas Martzakis, who owns a rental property in the apartment, told Protothema: “We had declared three people ... Did they come out? Did they not come out? we have no picture after the explosion ... The Airbnb has collapsed.”
Asked if there were people still inside the building, he said: “Nobody knows yet. We had three people on the first floor.”
Firefighters and a trained dog were wading through the building in search of survivors, Ethnos reported.
The area is home to many hotels and short-term rentals and crowds of tourists stroll its narrow streets lined with cafes and souvenir shops.
A police source said at least five people lodged at the building, part of which was rented out to tourists. It was not immediately clear if others were trapped.
Asked about the cause of the explosion, Mr Martzakis said the rental properties did not have natural gas, propane cylinders or LPG bottles.
Residents and workers in the area reported a strong smell of gas before the explosion, Protothema added, noting that an official cause is yet to be announced.
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