Biscuit factory owner rearrested after new evidence, charges raised to criminal level

The owner of biscuit factory 'Violanta' in Trikala, where five women died after a fire last month, was arrested again on Saturday afternoon and the charges against him raised to criminal level after investigations revealed new facts in the case.

Specifically, an investigation by the Fire Department's Directorate of Arson Crimes Management (DAEE) upgraded the charges against him to explosion with possible intent and manslaughter by negligence. The fire that damaged the 24-hour factory and killed employees resulted after a leak of methane gas led to an explosion and a fire during an early morning shift.

After DAEE's arrest, the owner is being held in the Fire Department at Trikala and will be led before the relevant prosecutor for testifying.

Inside tanks uncertified

According to information, one of the new pieces of evidence uncovred by the investigation is that six months before the explosion, the owner had asked for a quote from a private technician to change the entire instalation, from the propane gas tanks of in the front courtyard to inside the factory, but the project never went ahead. According to a witness, the businessman believed the price to be too high, and therefore allowed the gas leak to continue. The period the owner requested the quote coincided with the period that employees complained there is a very strong smell of gas in the factory.

The factory's two outside tanks were certified. But they were not included in the plans submitted for fire certifications when they were built. The pipes leading from them into the factory - which were worn and where the leak occurred over months - were not recorded on the plans, either, nor were the four subterranean gas tanks certified.