Fire breaks out at hotel in central Athens square, search for trapped guests underway

What happened

A fire ignited in a ground-floor space of a functioning hotel on Omonia Square in central Athens shortly before noon on Sunday. Initial reports indicate bed linen caught fire, with the blaze starting either in a storage room or an area where linens were kept. The eight-storey hotel was operational at the time.

Emergency response

The fire brigade dispatched 25 firefighters with seven vehicles to the scene, along with a special ladder vehicle and a cherry-picker. The response was described as swift, and the fire was quickly brought under control, according to one report.

Search for occupants

One outlet, citing public broadcaster ERT, reported that crews at the scene were carrying out searches to determine whether any hotel guests were in danger. Another source said there were people trapped on balconies, though no official confirmation of entrapment or injuries was immediately available.

Contradictory details on timing

While the incident was widely reported to have occurred on Sunday, one article placed it on Saturday. The discrepancy has not been clarified. However, the majority of accounts align with the Sunday timeframe, which matches the publication date of the reports.

No casualties confirmed

As of the initial reports, no casualties or injuries had been officially announced. The cause of the fire remains unknown.