Explosion Collapses Athens Building, Injures People

Smoke rose from the old two-story building and the woman who works in the area watched it fall.

“Smoke came out and I watched the building collapse in front of me. All the windows shattered. There was an elderly lady inside, but she got up and walked away. The police came and got us out. At first they said it was a car bomb, then they told us it was gas.”

The explosion struck shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, at 15 Lysikratous Street in Athens’ Plaka district, at its junction with Vasilissis Amalias Avenue, opposite the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The structure collapsed outright. A small fire broke out afterward and fire crews extinguished it. Police cordoned off the area. Debris and shattered glass were found as far as three blocks away. Parked cars sat crushed. A nearby church was damaged.

The woman working nearby got clear.

“The bang was loud, but we weren't hurt, we got away. It smelled like gas, and there was smoke. I saw an elderly man at the entrance downstairs who had hit his head. There are three injured. Our flat, one of the flats, has been destroyed.”

Firefighters pulled two women from an adjacent building. One was elderly. The other was around 50 years old. Both went straight to Gennimatas General Hospital. A passerby took only minor injuries from the flying debris.

Mathaios Artavanis owned the ground-floor apartment and had not been there when the blast hit. He tried to reach the elderly couple upstairs. He never got through.

Emergency crews searched the rubble with dogs, cameras, sensors and heavy equipment for more than twenty-four hours. About thirty firefighters and six vehicles took part. Three specially trained dogs worked the debris. Rescuers used geophones, instruments that detect possible sounds beneath collapsed material, and specialist cameras to pinpoint locations where people might be trapped. One account of the same operation listed twenty firefighters, six vehicles and two EMAK specialist rescue vehicles.

Fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said crews with dogs, cameras and sensors recovered all six of the victims after more than twenty-four hours in the wreckage.

The bodies came out on Saturday. Six people were killed.

Rescuers working the rubble found a woman’s bag. Inside it were two U.S. passports and the rental contract for the first-floor apartment.

Greek media identified the four Americans who had been staying there as two couples traveling together: Florida Hoxha and her husband Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick, and Florin Hoxha and his wife Erisa Cani. Florida and Florin were siblings of Albanian origin who held U.S. passports. The two-story building at 15 Lysikratous Street had been used as short-term rental accommodation. The Americans were due to check out around 11:00 a.m. Friday and catch a Delta flight out that afternoon around 3 p.m. Upstairs, on the second floor, lived the elderly couple Edmond Hings, 77, a British man, and Athina Papareskou, 78, a Greek woman.

Florida Hoxha and Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick had recently married and were on their honeymoon. They never arrived at the airport.

“The damage extends along the entire street as well as the street behind the building,” Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said. “We are talking about an incredible disaster.” He said two neighboring buildings were also severely damaged and might have to be demolished.

“What we can say with certainty is that the building is a total write-off,” Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning Paris Charlaftis said. The adjacent building carried an entrance sign giving 1880 as its year of construction. “I don’t know whether it is habitable. Given its age and the explosion, it may also be declared unsafe.”

Police spokesperson Konstantia Dimoglidou confirmed residents had reported a gas odor before the explosion. A gas leak was suspected, though the nature and source of the substance had yet to be determined. The blast hit Plaka, the old historical neighborhood at the foot of the Acropolis known as the Neighborhood of the Gods, leaving neighboring buildings that may face demolition.

U.S. Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle released a statement on the deaths.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the families and the loved ones of those killed and injured in this horrific incident. Our hearts are with them during this difficult time. I extend my deepest appreciation to the Greek first responders who worked tirelessly at the scene.”

The U.S. embassy was working with the families. The State Department confirmed four U.S. citizens among the dead.

Municipal engineers were to inspect the remaining structures. The fire-service investigation continued.

Fire crews wound down the operation on Saturday over a mass of twisted metal, broken tiles and concrete strewn with household belongings and clothing.