A video recording the movements of the three suspects just hours before the deadly explosion in Plaka, along with the results of laboratory tests conducted by the National Technical University of Athens, were the two decisive pieces of evidence that led to the case being solved.

After 34 days of investigation, the Fire Service’s Directorate for the Investigation of Arson Crimes, under the supervision of prosecutorial authorities, identified and arrested two Roma and one Albanian national. They are accused of causing the fatal natural gas leak while attempting to steal copper from the building’s pipes.

According to information obtained by protothema.gr, investigators discovered video footage showing the three men approaching the three-storey building a few hours before the tragedy. Two of them entered the premises and headed towards the “blind” stairwell—a closed space without windows or other openings—where the natural gas meter was located.

There, they attempted to remove copper pipes, cutting one of the natural gas supply lines. Within just a few minutes, they ran out of the building carrying a piece of copper pipe, as shown in the video obtained by the authorities.

The precise location of the leak was identified by the laboratories of the National Technical University of Athens, which examined evidence from the natural gas installation. By combining the laboratory findings with the video footage, investigators were able to reconstruct the events leading up to the explosion and identify the suspects.

How the deadly explosion occurred

The natural gas that escaped from the severed pipe spread inside the building and accumulated on the second floor, where an elderly couple lived.

According to the scenario being examined by the authorities, at some point the elderly woman got up and may have switched on an electrical switch, producing the spark that triggered the explosion. The resulting blast caused part of the building to collapse, killing six people.

The school minibus that escaped disaster by seconds

The force of the explosion is captured in a photograph obtained and published by protothema.gr. Flames can be seen on both the upper floors and the ground floor, as the natural gas had spread throughout a large part of the building.

The same photograph shows a black van which, according to reports, was a school minibus that had passed the scene just seconds before the explosion.

The timing of its passage prevented the school vehicle from potentially being caught up in the centre of the disaster.