Blast in Plaka: six deaths confirmed

The explosion that occurred on Friday, 25 September 2026, around 07:35–07:45, in a two-storey building on Lysikratous Street in Plaka, in the historic centre of Athens, had a final death toll of six, as confirmed on Saturday, 26 September 2026, following the discovery of the two final missing persons in the rubble after 13:30. On the second floor of the building that collapsed lived a 77-year-old British man and a 78-year-old Greek woman, while on the first floor were short-term rental tenants, two couples of Albanian-American nationals, according to Newsbomb. The initial reports on Friday mentioned an elderly couple and three foreign visitors as missing, yet the final death toll confirmed by Newspaper of the Editors and iRafina differs from the initial information, totalling six victims.

Following the explosion, a small fire broke out, and the blast was heard across parts of central Athens. A passerby was injured by falling debris and two women were rescued from an adjacent building. Teams from the Fire Service and the 1st Special Unit for Disaster Response (EMAK) worked at the site throughout Friday and into the night, with search and rescue dogs, thermal cameras and geophones, searching for any survivors or victims under the rubble. The operation continued on Saturday, 26 September, with the discovery of the two final missing persons after 13:30 marking the end of the search, according to iRafina and Newspaper of the Editors.

The incident highlights issues concerning older buildings, natural gas installations and short-term rentals in a densely built and protected historic neighbourhood like Plaka. An 1880-era neighbouring building had already been recorded as severely damaged, while the building that collapsed was deemed uninhabitable following a structural safety inspection carried out on adjacent buildings. The coexistence of older homes, permanent residents and tourist accommodation in short-term rental in central Athens raises the question of safety inspections in buildings that do not always have updated gas installations, a matter of broader concern in Attica.

A natural gas leak is being examined as a possible cause of the explosion. A court expert stated to ERT News that the leak likely occurred on the ground floor of the building and that gas detectors should have been present, though this assessment does not constitute an official finding. In the same direction, both the Mayor of Athens and the President of POETECK referred to natural gas as a possible cause. Fire Service spokesman Vasilis Vathrakogiannis stated that no report of gas smell in the area had been made to the service before the explosion. Athens Mayor Charis Doukas, speaking of the incident, described the intensity of the explosion as “the intensity of it was frightening”, according to enikos.gr, noting that the municipality is at the site supporting with all its forces. No responsibility has been officially attributed to any person or entity, as the investigation into the exact causes of the explosion remains ongoing.