A large fire broke out at a factory in Examilia, a village in the Corinthia region of the Peloponnese, following a powerful explosion earlier in the day. Greece’s Fire Service reported that one person was found dead inside the factory.

Firefighting efforts were launched immediately, with 35 firefighters, a foot patrol team from the ninth EMODE (Special Forest Operations Unit), volunteers and 11 vehicles deployed, alongside water tankers from Corinth Municipality. Shortly before 15:00, the fire inside the factory had been brought under control. Five employees and one driver were on site at the time and, according to reports so far, all have been found safe except for the person found unconscious.

The explosion, which was felt across Corinth and Loutraki, occurred at a factory that produces and packages vinegar. Corinth’s Arson Investigation Unit has been activated to establish the causes of the fire.

Corinth Hospital placed on alert

Corinth General Hospital has been placed on heightened alert to receive any casualties from the large fire at the factory in Examilia. Ambulances from the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAB) are also on standby at the scene, ready to transport any injured immediately should the need arise.

According to reports so far, two people made their own way to Corinth Hospital with minor burns. They are understood to have been a considerable distance from the site of the fire. The two received the necessary first aid from medical staff before being discharged, as their condition did not give cause for concern.

Mayor of Corinth Nikos Stavrelis: ‘The fire at the factory is out, but we lost a young man’

Speaking to Greek broadcaster SKAI about the fire at the vinegar production and packaging factory, Mayor of Corinth Nikos Stavrelis said the explosion had been extremely powerful, with sheets of metal from the factory thrown as far as 500 metres from the site. “The fire has gone out,” he said.

On the workers who had been on site at the time of the explosion, he said there was “one fatality, a very young man, while everyone else who was there survived.” Asked about the cause of the explosion, Stavrelis said “all we know so far is that one of the vinegar tanks exploded.”