Massive blast in Athens' Plaka district prompts all-night rescue and missing-person hunt

Early Friday morning an explosion ripped through a house on Lysikratous Street in Athens' historic Plaka quarter, causing the building to collapse. Rescue teams, bolstered by EMAC specialists equipped with thermal imaging and a search dog, have been digging through the debris with an excavator throughout the night. Mayor Haris Doukas and Minister Evangelos Tournas inspected the scene, suggesting a large-scale gas leak may have triggered the blast.

Six occupants are still missing: four Americans who had booked the first-floor Airbnb and an elderly couple from the second floor. Two women trapped in an adjacent structure were evacuated to Georgios Gennimatas Hospital, and another individual sustained light injuries from falling fragments. Airbnb co-owner Andreas Martzakis reported uncertainty about who was inside at the time of the explosion.