Honeymoon Couple And Pregnant Tourist Among Six Killed As Blast Rips Through Athens Street In Shadow Of Acropolis

A devastating explosion flattened a historic building in the heart of tourist Athens on Friday morning, killing six people — including four American holidaymakers due to fly home that same day.

Among the dead were newlyweds Florida Hoxha and Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick, who had travelled to Greece for their honeymoon, and her brother Florin Hoxha with his wife Erisa Cani, who was reported to be around three months pregnant with their first child.

They had rented a first-floor short-term apartment on Lysikratous Street in the picturesque Plaka district, just metres from the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus. They were scheduled to leave for the airport later that Friday. They never made the flight.

Also killed were the elderly couple who lived upstairs: 78-year-old Athina Papareskou, an Athens-born Greek, and her British husband Edmond “Eddie” Hings, 77. The pair had been married for about three decades.

The blast tore through the two-storey neoclassical building shortly after 7.30 am, sending concrete slabs crashing into the narrow street below, crushing parked cars and showering neighbouring properties with debris. Smoke billowed across the rooftops as stunned residents and tourists looked on.

Firefighters pulled two women from an adjacent building and treated a passer-by injured by flying shrapnel. Rescue teams with dogs, cameras and sensors then spent more than 24 hours picking through the wreckage. All six bodies were recovered by Saturday afternoon.

Athens officials said the explosion was likely caused by a failure in the building’s internal gas network, not the city’s main supply. Witnesses reported smelling gas before the blast. Investigators are focusing on the second-floor apartment, which still had a natural-gas connection for cooking and heating. The exact trigger remains under investigation.

Mayor Haris Doukas described the scene as “an unimaginable catastrophe.” Neighbouring buildings were evacuated and may have to be demolished. Damage stretched across several streets in one of the capital’s most visited neighbourhoods.

The tragedy has left families on both sides of the Atlantic grieving. DNA identification is continuing as Greek authorities work to formally confirm the identities of those who died in the rubble.