Biscuit factory owner remanded in custody over blast that killed five workers

During his testimony, the factory owner reportedly disclaimed responsibility for the explosion, blaming those responsible for preparing topographical surveys and studies, the contractors who carried out works at the site, and the experts who conducted inspections without detecting the propane leak in the facilities.

He also said he had not known there was any risk of an explosion, adding that his children used to play in the area. He again placed responsibility on those who signed off the company’s studies.

He reportedly insisted that, as someone who manages and directs a business with a very large turnover, he could not have knowledge of ‘technical issues’. He also said he would support the victims’ families ‘until the end’, as would other employees.

According to the state broadcaster ERT, he told investigators he was ‘shocked’ by the explosion and the loss of his five employees.

His statement lasted four and a half hours on the fifth floor of the Trikala courthouse and ended shortly before 6.30pm on Wednesday. Shortly after 8.30pm, the investigator and prosecutor agreed he should be remanded in custody. He was taken to the Trikala police headquarters and, on Thursday 19 February, transferred to prison.

New findings by the fire service into the deadly explosion at the factory in Trikala have, according to reports, brought to light serious omissions that appear to have contributed to the deaths of the five workers.

Workers gathered outside the Trikala courts on Wednesday afternoon to express support for the owner of Violanta.

The Trikala Labour Centre said on Tuesday that ‘the recent gatherings of some “Violanta” workers outside the police headquarters and the courts are not spontaneous at all’ and claimed they took place ‘with organised intervention by the employer through a narrow core of company executives and relatives of the employer’.

In its statement, the Labour Centre addressed workers at the company, inviting them to attend a coordination meeting of unions and organisations it is holding on Thursday. It urged them to consider that they could have been in the position of the five dead workers, that employers and employees are not in the same position, and that ‘the justified uncertainty they feel about their job and their income must be organised into demands’ directed at the employer and the Ministry of Labour.

Addressing ‘those employees who have given themselves to this guided effort, to create an ideal profile for the employer but also for all employees in general’, it called on them to reflect on the following points:

‘First, that some of them could have been in the shoes of the victims and their families.

‘Secondly, that the employer and employees are not in the same position, but the employer’s profits and growth were based on unpaid overtime, unpaid night work or holidays, unpaid compensation, and generally very difficult working conditions, with over-intensification and over-exploitation of employees.

‘Thirdly, the justified uncertainty they feel about their job and their income must be turned into an organised demand by the employer and the Ministry of Labour to ensure their salaries for as long as the business remains closed in all three factories. With the reopening of the business, they should demand humane working hours and conditions, health and safety measures, and wages that meet their needs.’

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