Greece has arrested two Greek men and an Albanian national suspected of stealing copper gas pipes from a building, causing a leak that led to a deadly explosion in central Athens last month, authorities said.
Six people were killed during the September 25 blast in the tourist district of Plaka, four Americans among them.
Following an investigation, experts with the fire brigade’s crime investigation unit concluded that hours before the blast the suspects damaged the two-storey building’s main natural gas supply infrastructure as they removed the copper pipe parts, fire brigade officials said late on Thursday.
The explosion occurred early in the morning when one of the residents turned the light on.
The suspects are expected to appear before a prosecutor on Friday.