Greece arrests three over explosion that killed six people in Athens


Emergency personnel search for survivors in the rubble of a building that partially collapsed following an explosion in the Plaka area, which is popular with tourists, in central Athens, Greece, September 26, 2026. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

ATHENS, Oct ⁠30 (Reuters) - Greece has arrested two ⁠Greek men and an Albanian national ‌suspected of stealing copper gas pipes from a building, causing a leak that led ​to a deadly explosion ⁠in central Athens ⁠last month, authorities said.

Six people were ⁠killed ‌during the September 25 blast in the tourist district ⁠of Plaka, four Americans among them.

Following ​an ‌investigation, experts with the fire brigade's ⁠crime ​investigation unit concluded that hours before the blast the suspects damaged the ⁠two-storey building's main natural ​gas supply infrastructure as they removed the copper pipe parts, fire brigade ⁠officials said late on Thursday.

The explosion occurred early in the morning when one of the residents turned ​the light on.

The suspects ⁠are expected to appear before a ​prosecutor on Friday.

(Reporting ‌by Yannis Souliotis and ​Angeliki Koutantou; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Alison Williams)

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