An explosion in The Mall Athens

20 January 2013 / 13:01:41 GRReporter

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Pictures: Maria S. Topalova

Minutes ago, a mild explosion shook the biggest shopping centre in Athens - The Mall Athens. There have been no reports of casualties so far, but according to state television NET, two people were injured. According to private MEGA TV, the two injured are security guards at the mall. They were taken to the nearby KAT Hospital and they are out of danger. The explosion caused major material damage.

Unknown people warned Eleftherotypia Newspaper about the bomb at 9:55 a.m., and the electronic edition Zougla at 9:58 a.m. It took the police only six minutes to evacuate the people in the building. According to George Patoulis, Mayor of Maroussi district, where the mall is located, about 200 people were evacuated.

50 minutes after the telephone warnings, the bomb exploded on the first floor of the mall, owned by Spiros Latsis. The bomb was makeshift and with limited power. According to Sky TV, the bomb was placed at a news stand. According to Naftemporiki Newspaper, however, the makeshift bomb was placed under one of the escalators near a bank branch. The Mall Athens houses branches of the currently merging National Bank of Greece and Eurobank.

The area was sealed off by the police.

The police also closed the nearby subway station and the electric train station.

The investigation of the explosion in the biggest shopping centre in Greece was entrusted to the anti-terrorism forces. Their experts are currently examining security camera videos from the inside of the shopping centre, from cameras located near the subway station and along Attiki Odos motorway. Thus, they will draw portraits of the alleged perpetrators.

On Sunday, the shops in The Mall Athens are closed, but the Village Cinema, numerous restaurants, coffee shops, fast food restaurants and the bowling centre operate. For the first time in the modern history of Greece, a terrorist organisation has taken aim at such a busy shopping centre. This happened only in the '80s, when the organisation "October '80" attacked the Mignon department store in the centre of Athens.

So far, no terrorist organisation has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Greek police suspect either the terrorist group "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei", or the "Sect of Revolutionaries". Both organisations, in their manifestos, have blamed multinational companies for the crisis in Greece and opposed bourgeois prosperity.

Today's incident, in which, fortunately, there were no casualties, is extremely worrying for the authorities. It is a continuation of a series of terrorist attacks during recent weeks - cars in front of the homes of several journalists were blown up, including in front of the house of the government spokesman's brother. Terrorists even fired at the headquarters of the ruling New Democracy party.

By a strange coincidence, last week, it became clear that far left organisations proceeded against Spiros Latsis for the construction of The Mall Athens. The trial is scheduled for early May.