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An American couple in Greece died after a building collapsed following an explosion on Friday, officials said.
Four other people were missing, including an elderly British man and a Greek woman who shared a flat, after the explosion in the historic Plaka district of Athens, under the Acropolis monument.
The American man and woman had been living in an apartment rented to tourists, located on the ground above the street square, Greek rescue officials told journalists. Their identities were not immediately made public.
A rescue operation was underway, with the Agence France-Presse news agency seeing mechanical diggers moving debris into thermal imaging cameras.
The explosion that brought down the small two-story building was likely caused by a gas leak, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said.
“We are talking about an incredible disaster,” he said, adding that damage occurred along the road the building was in, as well as behind it.
Costas Baltas/Anadolu via Getty Images
Doukas said two nearby buildings were left in a dangerous state, with inspections underway “to determine if they can remain standing or if they also need to be demolished”.
About 30 rescuers and three sniffer dogs were at work at the scene of the incident, the Greek ANA news agency reported.
A year ago, residents in the Plaka neighborhood had warned the city and utility companies of the risk of gas leaks or short circuits, according to a letter from the residents’ association published by the Kathimerini newspaper.
The residents had demanded a fire drill to identify possible weaknesses in the emergency plans for the district.
The neighborhood is one of the most popular tourist areas of Athens. The nearby Acropolis, one of Greece’s most famous landmarks, welcomed 4.6 million visitors last year.
