A British family of four are among at least six missing people after a huge explosion which destroyed a building in Athens after a suspected gas leak.
According to local reports, a British man, his wife, their son and their son’s partner were staying in short-term rental accomodation on the first floor.
However it is not known whether they were inside at the time of the explosion.
Meanwhile an elderly couple who lived on the second floor of the property are also missing.
It comes after a massive explosion tore through a building in a historic district of Athens before the structure collapsed.
The explosion happened at around 7.30am today in the district of Plaka, which sits just round the corner from the Acropolis of Athens and the Temple of Zeus.
Officials said earlier that five people are missing and local media has reported three Americans were among those who have not been located, but this has not yet been confirmed.
Several people were injured by the blast, with local media reporting that two women from an adjacent building were taken to Georgios Gennimatas Hospital, while a passerby said they suffered shrapnel wounds from the explosion.
Firefighters operate following a blast that caused a building to collapse and injured two people in Athens, Greece on September 25, 2026
The fire service said they were looking for two elderly people who lived on the building’s top floor, and three tourists who are believed to have rented the apartment below.
A fire service spokesman said: ‘A search and rescue operation with a dog is underway to find anyone who may be trapped.
‘We have learned that an elderly couple and three other people staying in a holiday rental were living in the building, and we are trying to determine whether they were there at the time of the explosion.’
The explosion, attributed at this stage to a gas leak, destroyed the two-floor building and also damaged neighbouring homes.
It broke windows in surrounding buildings and damaged cars parked nearby.
After several hours on Friday, no sign of the missing persons had been found in the debris.
Two women in a neighbouring building were hospitalised with minor injuries, state TV ERT said.
A third person who was passing by was also lightly injured, the station said.

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