As authorities continue their on-site inspection — expected to yield critical findings on the exact causes of the collapse of the four-story apartment building at 22 Alkminis Street in Petralona — the five individuals arrested in connection with the incident have been released. The prosecutor ordered further investigation to determine whether building regulations were violated, while the technical inquiry into the incident is ongoing and no official report on the circumstances leading to the collapse has yet been issued. The arrested individuals — the project owner, the contractor, the supervising engineer, and two workers — had faced charges related to violations of urban planning legislation. Following their testimonies, all five were released pending the continuation of the investigation by the relevant authorities.
Petralona building collapse: No warnings found in the case file
According to information obtained exclusively by parapolitika.gr from the defense team of the accused, the case file contains no evidence proving that those responsible for the building under construction were ever warned about safety risks or the need to halt work. The same sources emphasize that had any such warnings been issued and brought to the attention of those overseeing the project, construction would not have continued on the morning of Tuesday — just hours before the building came down.
It is worth noting that initial assessments pointed to excavation work for the construction of a new five-story building on the adjacent plot as a likely contributing factor, with the possibility that ground displacement undermined the structural integrity of the older building. However, the exact causes of the collapse are expected to be clarified only after the on-site inspection is completed and all technical findings have been fully evaluated.
The collapse occurred just hours after the building had been evacuated as a precautionary measure, following the intervention of a private engineer called in by the daughter of an elderly resident to assess cracks that had appeared in her apartment. During the inspection, engineers identified a significant gap between the collapsed building and the adjacent structure, as well as a dangerous tilt in the building — findings that prompted an immediate evacuation order.
As a result, when the building came down within seconds, there were no casualties. A major rescue operation was subsequently launched by the Fire Service and the 1st EMAK (Special Disaster Response Unit), with the assistance of specially trained search dogs, to rule out the possibility of anyone being trapped beneath the rubble. The search concluded without locating any individuals under the debris.
Considerable attention has been drawn to allegations made by the daughter of one of the elderly residents, who claimed that verbal warnings about the dangerous condition of the building had been communicated to the supervising engineers. These claims, however, remain under investigation and, according to the defense, are not currently reflected in the case file that has been compiled.
