The owner of the biscuit factory “Violanta” in Trikala was arrested on Tuesday evening, together with the safety technician and the shift manager, less than 24 hour after the  fire that killed five female workers in the early morning hours of Monday.

All three are being held and will be brought to the competent Trikala Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday –

The three arrestees are accused of manslaughter by negligence, explosion, arson by negligence and bodily harm. They were arrested by officers  of the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes (DAEE) and will be brought to prosecutor tomorrow, Wednesday, the Greek Police announced.

They have been reportedly arrested following the initial findings from the Fire Department’s inspections that revealed a propane leak.

It is noted that, according to information, two of the three experts appointed by the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes (DAEE), in order to investigate the scene of the tragedy, ruled that an explosion like the one that destroyed the factory could only be caused by a propane leak, while one of the shift workers testified that before the explosion there was a smell of gas in the production area, where the ovens were located, and it is estimated that the instantaneous ignition that caused the explosion occurred there.

It is recalled that in the courtyard of the factory there were two large propane tanks, from which the supply was made through pipes to the production area.

In the meantime, special teams of the Hellenic Fire and Emergency Services are collecting critical data from the scene of the tragedy. The goal is to fully clarify the circumstances and the exact causes that led to the accident.

Mega TV reported earlier this evening that there is strong suspicion that the leakage detectors did not operate properly.

On Tuesday morning, firefighters and rescue teams managed to locate the body of the missing worker, the 5th victim of the tragedy.

The body was sent to the morgue of the Larissa General Hospital for an autopsy.

All five workers who died in the fire were women, mothers and grandmother, from nearby villages who used to work for the night shift. They left behind orphans, a total of 11 children, the overwhelming majority of them minors.

They were working on the ground floor of the production line when the explosion brought the floor to collapse and they ended in the basement where allegedly the fire started and where they found a tragic end.

Authorities still have not identify the bodies and for this reason they have been collecting DNA samples from the shocked relatives.

Investigation by the Arson Crimes Division and other experts continue with the goal to shed full light on the circumstances under which the explosion and the following deadly occurred.