A big fire caused by homemade explosive devices broke out in the headquarters of Real Media Group in Maroussi suburb of north Athens in the early morning hours of Wednesday.
Several workers were in the building at 3 a.m. Wednesday. They managed to leave the building in safety, however, one woman was trapped in the first floor and had to be evacuated.
Publisher of Real Media Group, Nikos Chatzinikolaou posted on Twitter: “They set RealFM on fire! They are burning us. Three explosions and now we’re burning!”
Έβαλαν φωτιά στον Real FM! Μας καίνε! Τρείς εκρήξεις και τώρα καιγόμαστε…
— Nikos Chatzinikolaou (@NChatzinikolaou) July 13, 2022
According to Real.gr,three homemade explosive devices were found in the stairwell between the ground and the first floor of the building of RealFM radio and weekly newspaper RealNews.
It is reportedly estimated that the flames reached the third floor through the air ducts.
However, the picture remains unclear as eyewitnesses report that the fire started at the top floor of the building where the radio station is housed and spread downwards. The sound-technician who was evacuated was on the first floor of the building. ERT reported later that the woman was taken to hospital for preventive reasons and was later discharged.
Most of the damage has been done to the third floor, but there is enough damage to the other two as well.
“The destruction is significant, the floor is burnt. The fire came down from top to bottom. We cannot estimate the magnitude of the disaster,” said Giorgos Houdalakis, RealFM manager. He added they “hoped to be back on the air soon and this is the message to the arsonists.”
The Department of State Security has undertaken the investigation.
The [camping] gas canisters have been taken to forensic laboratories for investigation.
At the same time, the Fire Service will continue to investigate how the fire reached the third floor, as it is possible that the flames spread through the air ducts.
Investigators are collecting footage from security cameras in a effort to trace the perpetrators’ route.
With 6 trucks, 18 firefighters managed to take the fire under control.
Government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou who visited the site on Wednesday morning accused the usual suspects from the anarchist landscape.
the government as well as opposition parties condemned the arson attack.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Tags arson Athens media REAL MEDIA GROUP real news
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