Undocumented propane tanks, an unmapped basement, and months of ignored gas odor warnings preceded the explosion that killed five workers at the Violanta biscuit factory in the central Greek town of Trikala, investigators revealed. Two decades-old, above-ground propane tanks weren’t listed in the facility’s fire safety plan submitted last fall. The 400-square-meter basement where gas accumulated wasn’t documented in factory blueprints. Gas detectors were installed only at ovens – not in the storage area where the explosion occurred. Workers had complained about gas smells for months, but management never investigated, authorities said. Fire Service Lieutenant General Anastasios Michalopoulos said propane leaked from underground pipes, traveled 25 meters through soil, then seeped through cracks into the basement. A spark from water pump equipment ignited the accumulated gas. The factory owner and two executives face negligent homicide charges. Investigators noted the safety permit allowed three years for compliance verification – a regulatory gap that proved deadly.
“This is Greece.” Will the words of late prime minister Costas Simitis from September 2000 continue to haunt us 26 years later? Back then, it was the aging ferry Express Samina, which sank off Paros after striking a rocky islet, killing 81 passengers. This week, there was the fire at the Violanta biscuit factory near Trikala, whose safety lapses cost the lives of five workers.
In the intervening years, countless examples of criminally negligent state oversight have emerged: inspections that never occur or are severely delayed, safety protocols ignored, arbitrariness and irresponsibility, and a ping-pong of accountability – all compounded by understaffed agencies. The Tempe railway disaster, the fatal funfair ride in Pefkohori, the deadly Mandra floods – citizens left defenseless, workers unprotected. “In the Trikala and Karditsa prefectures, only four inspectors are available to carry out checks. Inspections are conducted only after complaints or accidents and are rarely preventive. Sectors such as agriculture, the armed forces, maritime operations, and freelance workers are exempt from inspections and measurements. And, of course, many accidents are never reported,” Roula Salourou wrote in Kathimerini on Wednesday.
Every time a tragic accident occurs, a familiar pattern emerges. The conclusions are almost always the same; only the people and agencies change. At the funfair in the Halkidiki resort where a 19-year-old died, the fatal ride was homemade, assembled by stitching and connecting separate parts. If a responsible official had inspected it, it would not have received certification, and the accident could have been prevented.
In the case of the Violanta factory, the updated fire safety plan was submitted in November 2025, and the fire department granted the permit with the obligation to verify that the required measures were implemented – not immediately, but over a three-year period. How incomprehensible and absurd it is for the state to schedule safety inspections of such large facilities on a three-year horizon. At the same time, according to sources, the underground storage area – the epicenter of the explosion – is not marked on the factory’s recent blueprints nor on its fire safety plans.
It is well known that many procedures now rely on sworn statements or private studies, with inspections conducted afterward, if at all. But when auditing mechanisms are seriously understaffed, violations are discovered only when it’s too late. There are far too many “bad examples” to believe that procedures and protocols are being followed in good faith.