Owner of biscuit factory where 5 workers were killed, arrested again, faces upgraded charges

The owner of biscuit factory “Violanta” in Trikala, where five workers were killed after an explosion and a fire 19 days ago, was arrested again on Saturday afternoon and the charges against him were upgraded criminal level after investigations revealed new facts in the case.

According to Alpha TV, the owner was arrested in the courtyard of the fully damaged factory and allegedly said “Everybody should take his own responsibility, It wasn’t me who signed.”

He is expected to testify before the prosecutor on upcoming Tuesday.

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 operating factory and killed the five female workers during the early morning shift, was caused from a leak of methane gas that was initially exploded.

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

Note that the owner, the safety manager and shift manager were arrested two days after the tragedy but were released on January 28,

Indoors propane tanks uncertified

According to information, one of the new pieces of evidence uncovered 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 installation, from the propane gas tanks in the front courtyard to inside the factory, but the project never went ahead.

According to a witness, an electrician who would do the work, the businessman believed the price to be too high, and therefore allowed the gas leak to continue. state-run media, news agency amna.gr and  broadcaster ERT, reported on Saturday.

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.