The lawyers representing the family of Vasiliki Skampardoni, one of the victims of the deadly explosion at a major cookie factory back in January, will file a request Thursday, September 17, with the Larissa Court of Appeals Prosecutor seeking an appeal against the ruling that released the main suspect in the incident.
Skampardoni, who left behind two minor children, is at the center of the family’s legal challenge to the decision to release the main defendant before completing six months in pretrial detention. According to a statement from the family’s lawyer, the family is also seeking tougher charges, asking that the prosecution be upgraded from negligent homicide to homicide with possible intent.
The powerful blast, followed by an intense fire completely destroyed the factory of cookie company Violanta in Trikala, Central Greece, killing five female employees on the “graveyard shift”. The cause of the explosion was attributed to a gas leak which had accumulated over months and from pipes in the ground, ultimately building up to extremely high concentrations.
The facilities destroyed by the explosion and fire that broke out on Jan. 26, 2026, at the Violanta cookie factory in Trikala. (Thanasis Kalliaras/EUROKINISSI)
“Acting on the instructions of the husband of the late Vasiliki Skampardoni, a mother of two minor children, aged six and four, who lost her life in the deadly explosion that took place on Januanry 26, 2026, at the Violanta factory, I am taking on the role of supporting the prosecution against all those whose actions and omissions led to Vasso’s death.
“Tomorrow, September 17, 2026, at noon, together with my distinguished colleague, Mr. Dimosthenis Pantazopoulos, who was appointed from the outset as the family’s lawyer supporting the prosecution, we will submit before the Larissa Court of Appeals Prosecutor a request to exercise the legal remedy of appeal against ruling No. 460/2026 of the Trikala Misdemeanor Council.
“The ruling released the main defendant in the case, K.T., before he had even completed six months in pretrial detention, despite the prosecutor’s opposing recommendation and while the investigation still underway has established that he knew about the propane leak that led to the deadly explosion and the death of our client’s wife and the mother of his children.
“In our aforementioned request to the prosecutor, in addition to the serious legal and substantive grounds that make it necessary for the defendant to remain in pretrial detention, we explicitly refer to the facts and evidence supporting our further request to upgrade the charges from negligent homicide to homicide with possible intent,” Vaso Pantazi, the lawyer representing Vasiliki Skampardoni’s family, said in the statement.
