Four American tourists among six killed in suspected gas leak explosion in Athens | News

Two women reportedly injured in explosion in Athens’ historic Plaka district, buildings evacuated.

Rescue teams have found the bodies of six people killed when a building collapsed following an explosion in the historic center of Athens, Greece, according to local authorities.

Documents and personal effects found Saturday in four of the victims — two men and two women — indicated they were U.S. citizens, Greek state broadcaster ERT and other local media reported.

The other two victims are said to be an elderly couple, a British man and a Greek woman, who lived on the second floor of the building.

Two women were injured in an adjacent building, according to firefighters.

The explosion that destroyed a small two-story building in the popular tourist district of Plaka on Friday was believed to have been caused by a large gas leak, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said. Neighboring buildings were damaged and evacuated, he said.

“The damage extends to the entire street as well as the street behind (the building),” Doukas said. “We are talking about an unimaginable catastrophe.”

Two adjoining buildings that were badly damaged may have to be demolished, he said.

The Greek daily Kathimerini reported on Friday that the four tourists, who were due to leave their accommodation around 11:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT), were unable to board their return flight to the United States.

Residents of Plaka issued warning

A year ago, a group of Plaka residents alerted the municipality and managers of the electricity and gas networks to the risks of short circuits or gas leaks in the area.

In a letter published by Kathimerini, the group called for a security exercise to identify possible gaps in the emergency response system.

The citizen movement “We remain active” also indicated on social networks that a resident of the street where the explosion occurred had reported a smell of gas for several weeks and had warned the authorities.

A Greek police spokeswoman confirmed to ERT that the residents had made the report. However, the nature of the substance and its origin have not yet been determined.

Plaka lies at the foot of the Acropolis, the most visited ancient monument in Greece.