A three-member committee has been formed to assess the safety of two buildings next to the one that collapsed following an explosion in Plaka, central Athens, last Friday, September 25. Six people were killed in the blast.
The committee will include civil engineers from the Athens Municipality’s Building Department and the Attica Regional Authority. The experts will assess the structural integrity of the two adjacent buildings, as initial assessments have raised serious concerns about the condition of their load-bearing structures.
Inspection for Potential Collapse
“The two buildings next to the one that collapsed have been deemed dangerous. The question is whether there is a risk that they could collapse, whether they are on the verge of collapse. That is what we are examining,” Paris Charlaftis, deputy mayor for Technical Services at the City of Athens, told TO VIMA.
A report by the Athens Municipality’s Building Department is expected to be completed by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, a team from Greece’s Ministry of Culture, with the assistance of the City of Athens, visited the site again Wednesday. The inspection was carried out because one of the two buildings on the street, which has sustained serious damage, is a protected historic building.
At the same time, authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the explosion. Initial evidence indicates that a natural gas leak occurred in the second-floor apartment where an elderly couple lived. So far, the leak does not appear to have originated at the point where the apartment was connected to the central natural gas pipeline.
