Three missing factory workers confirmed dead after factory explosion

Three workers were killed on Monday morning in a powerful explosion at an explosives factory belonging to the ELTEK company at Itea, Grevena, in northern Greece, which also injured two people. 

The company issued an announcement late Monday afternoon confirming the death of the three workers whose remains were found by rescue teams that combed the area around the factory and at a considerable distance from the site of the explosion.

“The manufacturing unit has been completely leveled. Even parts of the supporting columns have been flung a significant distance,” Grevena Mayor Georgios Dastamanis told Kathimerini.

Eyewitness reports state that the shock wave from the explosion was felt throughout the area and a huge plume of smoke rose for hundreds of meters, with fields surrounding the site being littered with debris.