Testimonies from employees at the Violanta biscuit factory in Trikala, Greece, suggest that a strong gas odour was present on the premises as early as November 2025, well before the 26 January 2026 blast that claimed five workers' lives. The workers said warning signs had been in place for a long time, yet no effective measures were taken to prevent the catastrophe. Investigators have confirmed that a severe propane leak had been ongoing for several months before the explosion, accumulating gas in an unmonitored area of the factory.
This week, Greek authorities arrested the owner of the Violanta plant for a second time, upgrading the charges against him to manslaughter with possible intent (from mere negligence) in light of the new evidence. The 62-year-old owner, Konstantinos Tziortziotis, was detained pending testimony. A Fire Department probe suggested that Tziortziotis had sought a technical fix for the gas system six months before the blast but abandoned it due to cost, sources told ertnews.gr. Authorities say this negligence allowed the leak to continue unchecked.
All five victims of the blast were women working the overnight shift. The fatal explosion and fire tore through the biscuit production line in the early hours of 26 January, trapping the workers inside. Two days after the incident, the factory's owner and two senior staff were initially arrested but later released with misdemeanour charges. The owner now faces serious felony charges, while the plant remains sealed off nearly three weeks later amid fears that lingering gas could spark another blaze.
At least eight workers have now given statements about the persistent gas smell at the factory in late 2025. One long-serving employee said the odour in the facility's toilets grew so intense in the two weeks before the explosion that it made her eyes sting. She and others repeatedly alerted supervisors about the smell, only to be told it was coming "from the septic tanks," an explanation they doubted, as the scent was unlike any usual sewer odour. "I informed my shift manager… she said she had told the higher-ups and they said it was something in the septic tanks and that they'd pour something down them," the worker testified.
Another employee, with a decade at the company, resorted to covering her nose with her shirt when entering the restroom during her last week at work because the gas stench was overwhelming. She even warned her foreman of the risk of an explosion days before the incident, but "he replied that I shouldn't be afraid."
Multiple staff members also recalled the smell appearing intermittently in the months leading up to the disaster. A newer recruit reportedly noticed a gasoline-like odour by early December 2025 and reported it to a manager, but saw no follow-up. Another worker recalled first smelling gas about four months before the blast and assumed the issue had been fixed after colleagues said they'd reported it, only to find the odour persisted. "Technicians knew about the problem and didn't do their jobs properly, so the problem grew and then the explosion happened," that worker's deposition stated bluntly.
Sources: protothema.gr, ertnews.gr, trikalanews.gr
