A huge explosion destroyed a two-storey building in Athens’s historic Plaka district, near the Acropolis and Temple of Zeus, leaving at least five people missing and several others injured. Authorities believe a gas leak may have caused the blast, which damaged nearby homes, shattered windows and affected parked cars.

Firefighters were searching the rubble for an elderly couple who lived on the top floor and three tourists believed to have rented the apartment below. Two women from a neighbouring building were hospitalised with minor injuries, while a passer-by reportedly suffered light shrapnel wounds; reports that three missing people are American remained unconfirmed.