Plaster falls from school ceiling onto pupil's head in Thermi, Thessaloniki

What happened

On Friday 9 October a large piece of plaster came away from the ceiling of a classroom at the Gymnasium of Vasilika (Βασιλικά) in the municipality of Thermi, Thessaloniki, and fell onto a pupil's head. Most reports describe the boy as 14, while NEWS 24/7 gives his age as 15. Reports put the incident at around 13:30, and NewsIT places it shortly before dismissal. Fanis Karkatzounis, president of the parents' union of the Thermi municipality, who also teaches at the school, told NewsIT that the student was the only pupil at that spot when the plaster fell. He described the fallen piece as thick, about 3-4 centimetres, and said he believed the student was struck on the neck.

Karkatzounis also offered an explanation for the fall. He said there was probably a moisture problem that could not be seen with the naked eye, and that the wider question is how schools are inspected and maintained.

Probably there was a moisture problem that was not visible to the naked eye.

Medical condition and transfer

The student was collected by an EKAB ambulance and taken to the Gennimatas hospital in Thessaloniki, where the paediatric surgery clinic was on duty, according to reports. The Regional Directorate of Education of Central Macedonia said, according to the information it had, that the bleeding had stopped and that his clinical picture gave no cause for concern. Karkatzounis told NewsIT that the boy left the school conscious and was sent to hospital as a precaution, so that all the necessary tests could be carried out. NEWS 24/7 reported that he had a head injury and was brought in bloodied, a description the parents' union repeated in its own statement.

Municipal response

Engineers from the Thermi municipality went to the school to carry out macroscopic and visual checks. Apostolos Tsolakis, deputy mayor for Technical Services, told APE-MPE that the inspection had not revealed an apparent cause for the detachment.

No specific cause was identified for the detachment, no crack was found locally, nor any sign of moisture at the point of detachment, either on the slab of the school building or in the neighbouring classrooms.

Tsolakis added that the school management had made no request to include the work in a school maintenance contract. Because the inspection found no evidence explaining the detachment, he said specialists should carry out a second-level pre-earthquake check. Stef. Apostolou, deputy mayor for Education, also went to the school and gave a different account of the ceiling's condition.

There was no trace of moisture on the ceiling, so such an incident could not have been foreseen.

The two accounts differ on moisture: Karkatzounis said it was probably present but hidden, while Apostolou said there was no trace of it.

Parents demand accountability

The Union of Parents' and Guardians' Associations of the Thermi municipality issued a statement that placed responsibility squarely on the municipality. The union published photographs from the incident and called on the municipality to take responsibility before any further harm occurs.

Before we mourn victims, let the Municipality of Thermi take responsibility.

The union asked for all the necessary checks to be carried out immediately and for the school not to operate until the municipality confirms in writing that the building is suitable. Parents are also seeking written certification of the building's suitability before classes resume, citing concern for the children's safety after the injury. The police precinct responsible for the area has taken up the investigation into the circumstances in which the plaster came away.