Five women have died after a powerful explosion occurred at the Violanda factory in Trikala. According to a rescued worker, the explosion happened suddenly, with the ceiling panels collapsing and the floor giving way. Despite the danger, he managed to rescue three colleagues, but five women remained trapped on the ground floor. The building was engulfed in flames, with temperatures topping 1,000 degrees Celsius.

Elena Katsarou’s sister, who died from the fire at the biscuit factory, said there were very frequent reports that there was a strong smell of LPG, but they had not made it.

Specifically, she said, ‘My sister went to work at the factory, and they burned her. Because all the women who worked, including my mother, who was a day shift supervisor, all said it smelled like gas. It smelled in the ladies’ restroom to the point where they could no longer use the bathroom. They would hold their noses. The toilet smelled of gas. They told the manager, so he knew about it, and told the workers to fix it…’

‘Trikala Hospital had several cases of industrial accidents. Broken fingers, cut fingers, banged-up hands, and they wouldn’t report them as workplace accidents … Agapi Bunova, who died with my sister, had her hand blocked by the machine, and she had a big scar. She has said to me, “Look what I’ve done to hand. My sister was on her way to her shift. My mother used to tell her that she smelled, but she would make fun of her. My mother worked there for 30 years. Her whole life, but she didn’t want her daughter to die and leave a child an orphan. We want to do justice to my sister’s memory. They all said she smelled, but they won’t go to testify because they’re afraid. My nephew said to me, “My mom’s gone. What’s a kid gonna do without his mom?  He said I want to remember my mama the way she was, but she’s all burned up. She worked nights so she could be with the kid all the other times, take him to activities, and have time with her son.”

The family of one of the victims, Voula Boukouval, is understandably in a bad psychological state, with her cousin speaking to MEGA and relaying that her children are taking sedatives to manage the shock.

“She’s never complained about work, from what we’ve discussed, because we’re a community. But don’t forget that he was working on a production line, which means he’s tired. But he hadn’t made any complaints. For the kids, more so, for the family, it’s hard, it’s a calvary. The children are silent; they don’t talk. They’re in a terrible state. They’re on sedatives, the kids are on sedatives,” he said.

The aunt of Vasso Skabardoni said the woman had never complained about her work at the factory, where she had been working for the past six months, and seemed content. “Vasso closed her salon in 2020, had two young children, and was looking for stable work to raise them. She chose the evening shift at Violanda so she could be with her children during the day. Now the kids are growing up without their mother and are asking for her,” their aunt said.