The intensity of the explosion at the “Violanta” factory in Trikala, which killed five women when the building collapsed following the fire, was extraordinarily powerful. Security camera footage from a house in Agia Kyriaki, located 3.3 kilometers away from the factory according to Google Maps, shows the intense flash of light produced by the explosion that occurred just before 4 AM on Monday, January 26. The footage was published by trikalaopinion. The sound was deafening, and the explosion turned night into day. According to witness accounts, a massive explosion shook the area, creating an extremely powerful shock wave. The result was the complete collapse of the roof, floor, and side walls, followed by a large fire that consumed everything. The factory was essentially split in half. A tragic irony is that the disaster occurred in a new wing of the facility that had only been operational since 2023.
Read: Fire at “Violanta” factory in Trikala: Fifth victim found – DNA identification of bodies
Additionally, the fact that the small number of people present at the factory was a matter of chance – a management decision due to the New Year cake cutting ceremony – is chilling.
DNA identification of victims
According to reports, the fifth victim was found and identified through DNA material, but the Fire Service needs time to recover the body. Grief prevails for the unfortunate workers at the “Violanta” factory, while information until early Monday afternoon spoke of four deaths, with the number now risen to five. Earlier, it was announced that a special team from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit had arrived at the tragedy site.
Fire at “Violanta” factory in Trikala: Union president speaks about the tragedy
The description by Giorgos Liatifis, president of the Dairy, Food and Beverage Union of Trikala and general secretary of the Trikala Labor Center, is shocking. Speaking to Orange Press Agency about what he witnessed upon arriving at the scene and the inspections that had preceded, he described the first moments: “Yesterday, after 4 AM, in the city of Trikala, a thunderous explosion was heard. We heard it at a distance of more than 15 kilometers. We understood and learned that it concerned an explosion at the “Violanta” biscuit factory. We came here, a delegation from the Trikala Labor Center and the Dairy-Food and Beverage Union, from the early morning hours. We saw a truly war-like situation. We saw injured people who were taken to the hospital and [learned of] five missing colleagues who were inside the factory. At this moment as we speak, four bodies have been found, the corpses that is, and they are still searching for one more female worker in the debris.”
“At the altar of profit, workers don’t return home”
Mr. Liatifis made serious accusations about working conditions, emphasizing: “What we at the Labor Center had as our priority in previous months was worker protection, ensuring they have health and safety in workplaces, regarding intensification, and it is proven that at the altar of profit, workers don’t return to their homes and families and end up in this situation, meeting tragic death.”
Moreover, he revealed that deficiencies had been identified in a previous inspection: “We participated in the summer in a joint team together with the Health and Safety Committee here and conducted an inspection, of course under the responsibility of the competent state authority. We identified some […] regarding escape routes, regarding gas detection mechanisms, without this of course meaning we can know today [what went wrong]. The competent services are responsible for telling us exactly.”
“Gas ovens bake the biscuits, we don’t know what other tanks they have”
Regarding the causes of the explosion and what exactly is located in the areas where the accident occurred, Mr. Liatifis stated: “Here we have the ovens, where biscuits are baked, which primarily use gas. Now the rest, what tanks they have, what machinery they have around, obviously it’s a factory that you understand now… And we are waiting for answers. And we are waiting for answers, regarding what happened and we have this tragic event.” Closing, he announced mobilizations: “And this is what we are trying now, which is why we have declared a 24-hour strike in Trikala here, tomorrow, to pressure for finding the guilty parties to pay for all this situation.”
