Athens Mayor Haris Doukas visited the site of the Petralona building collapse Thursday morning, speaking with residents and tenants from both the building that came down and the neighboring one that was evacuated for safety reasons.
He said finding housing solutions for those affected is an absolute priority for the municipality, and that the city is already in contact with Airbnb and local hotels to arrange temporary accommodation for as long as needed. Four of the people who lost their homes have already expressed interest in that option.
“We’re here again today, and as you can see, the two-meter metal barriers are already up to secure the site,” Doukas said, adding that the City Council has approved financial support for those affected.
“By decision of the City Council, we’ve agreed to provide 3,000 euros in financial support to each family. There are 7 households currently going through an extremely difficult time, so this is a first round of support,” he said. “The bigger problem is housing, which is why we’ve already reached out to Airbnb, which will provide space right away for people in need. Of the 7 families, 4 have already shown interest. We’ll also be talking to other hotels, since we don’t know yet how long this process will take. Our social services are on site too, helping people, since all their documents are inside, and they’ll need to replace IDs and other paperwork.”
The mayor also noted that a prosecutor’s investigation and preliminary inquiry are underway, which is why the site needs to remain secured. He said the necessary inspections will be completed in cooperation with state authorities and specialized engineers so the area can be restored.
Assessing needs and supporting residents
“Right now we’re recording people’s immediate needs, so that at the Reception and Solidarity Center (KADA) we run through the municipality, we can gather the essentials,” Doukas said. “We also opened the Friendship Club here in Petralona for the first few hours. I think the most important thing is to wrap up the preliminary inquiry quickly so the process can begin, so people can find out when they’ll be able to retrieve their belongings, since their whole lives are back there behind the rubble, so responsibility can be established, and so they have somewhere safe to stay throughout this period. That’s our responsibility here.”
At the same time, the City of Athens and the Attica Region are putting together a special team of engineers to inspect the remaining buildings on the block, to make sure the area is structurally sound and safe.
