Greek authorities probe a fatal factory fire near Trikala that killed five workers, with a possible gas leak suspected in the country’s worst industrial accident in years.
TRIKALA: Greek investigators are probing the causes of a devastating fire that killed five workers at a biscuit factory.
The explosion early on Monday tore through a section of the Violanta factory near the central city of Trikala.
Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis told state TV ERT that the case would be fully investigated.
Four victims were found soon after the blast, but the fifth was only recovered on Tuesday morning.
A fire department officer told AFP a gas leak may have caused the fire but other possibilities could not be ruled out.
“It is too early to have a detailed report,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.
A source in the Trikala prosecutor’s office said the department was supervising the investigation.
“The case file will include possible criminal responsibility over security failures at the factory,” they said.
The deaths have shocked local communities around Trikala, which provide much of the company’s workforce.
Colleagues and relatives said the women who died had chosen to work the night shift to be with their children during the day.
The Violanta company in a statement insisted it “strictly applies protocols and procedures, adhering to all measures for the safety of our staff and facilities”.
“We are mourning five of our own,” the company said, adding it was “fully” cooperating with the investigation.
The blaze is one of the country’s deadliest industrial accidents in recent years.
A local trade union on Monday said it had not been allowed to inspect the facility.
Over 200 people died in work-related accidents in 2025, according to the federation of technical company employees.
In 1992, 15 people died in a refinery explosion in the industrial zone of Elefsina, near the port of Piraeus.
Three people died in a dynamite factory explosion in Itea, central Greece, in 2022.
The Violanta plant in Trikala, the company’s first and biggest, produced 12,500 tonnes of biscuits, cookies and wafers per year.
