Elderly siblings killed in downtown Athens house fire

A house fire in downtown Athens in the early hours of Tuesday cost the lives of a man and woman who have been identified as brother and sister, according to reports.

State broadcaster ERT reported that the siblings appear to have been quite elderly and were living in a state of squalor. 

The blaze in their second-floor apartment in a block on central Academias Street was reported to the Fire Service at around 2.30 p.m.

Four fire engines and 15 firefighters were dispatched to the scene and managed to bring the blaze under control before it spread to other apartments in the block or to adjacent buildings.

Firefighters found the man’s body first and the woman’s further inside the house.

An investigation into the circumstances that led to their deaths is under way.