Athens Gas Explosion: Three Arrested as Copper Theft Blamed for Deadly Blast

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Three men suspected of stealing copper pipe from a building in central Athens were brought before a prosecutor on Friday, October 30, facing felony charges over the gas explosion that killed six people on Lysikratous Street, in the Plaka neighbourhood, on September 25.

Lysikratous Street in central Athens at night, with the Arch of Hadrian in the distance

Greece's Fire Service announced on Thursday that its Arson Crimes Division (ΔΑΕΕ) had solved the case after a 34-day investigation, carried out under the supervision of prosecutors and in strict secrecy. Arrest warrants were issued for two Greek men and an Albanian national, and all three were detained later that day. According to the authorities, the three have previous records for offences including theft and drugs.

The blast happened shortly after 7:30 a.m. and brought down the building, in one of the busiest parts of central Athens, just below the Acropolis. Four American tourists staying in a short-term rental apartment on the first floor were killed, together with an elderly couple who lived on the second floor, a British man and his Greek wife. Two women were rescued from a neighbouring building.

Athens explosion: what investigators found

According to the investigation, security cameras recorded three people outside the building at about 2 a.m., some five and a half hours before the explosion. Two of them went into the building's windowless stairwell and came out a few minutes later carrying a length of copper pipe.

The pipe they took came from an inactive gas installation on the first floor. Investigators believe that, in removing it, the men broke the live line that supplied the second-floor apartment. Gas then escaped inside the building, after the meter, and filled the stairwell and the apartment over the following hours. The explosion happened when a resident switched on an electric light.

Tests with nitrogen showed that the external gas network had not leaked, and experts concluded that the damaged pipe had been bent by being pulled, not by the blast. Investigators reconstructed the scene, studied video footage, examined communications data released with prosecutors' approval and worked with court-appointed electrical engineers, a chemist and the metallurgy laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens.

Athens explosion: the charges

According to public broadcaster ERT, the three are being prosecuted for jointly causing an explosion that put others in danger and resulted in deaths, for multiple counts of homicide with possible intent, and for dangerous bodily harm. Possible intent, known in law as dolus eventualis, means a person accepted that their actions could kill, even if that was not their aim.

The suspects were taken to the Evelpidon court complex in Athens on Friday and were expected to ask for time to prepare their defence before an investigating magistrate, who will then decide whether they should be held in pre-trial detention. All three are presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise.

ERT also reported that local residents say they had told police about suspicious movements around buildings in the neighbourhood, both on the day of the explosion and in the days before it.

Athens gas safety: what to do if you smell gas

The case shows how metal theft can leave hidden damage in gas installations that residents cannot see. Natural gas has a smell added so that leaks can be noticed quickly. Enaon EDA, which runs the gas distribution network in Attica, advises anyone who smells gas indoors to act as follows:

Open doors and windows, since natural gas is lighter than air and will escape outside.
Put out any cigarette, flame or other source of sparks.
Turn off the main gas tap and the switches on all gas appliances.
Do not use lighters or matches, and do not press light switches, call the lift, use a phone or switch on a torch nearby, because any of these can create a spark.
Leave the area and call the Enaon EDA 24-hour emergency line on 800 11 8 78 78 (+30 800 11 8 78 78 from a foreign mobile), or the Fire Service on 199. Full advice is on the Enaon EDA safety page.

Athens explosion case: what comes next

Once the three men give their statements, the investigating magistrate and the prosecutor will decide on detention, and the case will then move towards trial. Further details may emerge as the case file is examined.