An investigation into a suspected gas leak at Athens’ Grava school complex has uncovered failures in critical safety systems, including faulty gas detectors and emergency shutoff equipment, but has failed to establish the source of the odor that prompted the closure of schools attended by approximately 4,000 students. The findings, contained in a report by the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), have raised further concerns among parents, who have been demanding safety assurances before their children return to classrooms.
The report, submitted to the Education Ministry on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 20, identified several problems with the natural gas installations at the complex, the largest of its kind in Greece, which accommodates more than 400 teachers in addition to its students.
According to the findings, the gas leak detection system in one of the complex’s two boiler rooms was not functioning. Inspectors were unable to test the system in the second boiler room because work was underway at the time.
The report also found that the manual emergency gas shutoff system, designed to stop the flow of gas in the event of a dangerous situation, was not operational.
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Inspectors found no evidence of a gas leak during their examinations, conducted between Oct. 17 and 19, but could not rule out the possibility that a leak had occurred earlier.
The report also identified fire safety problems in the boiler rooms, where heating equipment and electrical installations are located in the same spaces. Inspectors found that the rooms lacked properly sealed, fire-resistant doors designed to prevent a fire from spreading. To address the safety issues that were identified during the inspections, the TEE recommended six measures for one boiler and eight for the other.
Questions have also emerged about how regularly the complex’s heating equipment has been inspected. One of the two boilers has reportedly been operating without the required safety inspections for 23 years, while the other has not undergone such checks since 2014. A separate gas line serving the complex’s swimming pool has also been left out of the inspections. The pool is currently closed, and the line is considered inactive. However, parents have demanded that is inspected as well.
Despite the investigation, the source of the gas-like odor reported at the school over the past month remains unknown.
Athens Mayor Demands Answers
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas criticized the handling of the investigation Wednesday after the Technical Chamber of Greece’s findings were reported in the media before the municipality had received an official copy.
In a Facebook post, Doukas said he had learned about the report through news reports, despite repeated requests by the municipality for information about the inspections. “To date, the Municipality of Athens has not received a single official document, despite our appeals over so many days,” he wrote. Doukas accused those responsible for the report’s release of staging a “publicity stunt at the expense of the students”, calling the situation “shameful.”
He also sent a letter to Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki and TEE President George Stasinos, requesting that they attend Wednesday’s Athens City Council meeting to discuss the findings and help determine what action should be taken. The meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday. Doukas said the safety of students required immediate action and called for a substantive discussion of the report’s findings.
Parents Demand Further Inspections
Parents have expressed alarm at the findings, particularly the lack of an inspection of the gas installations serving the swimming pool.
Antonis Deligiannis, general secretary of the Parents’ Association of Athens’ 5th Municipal District, told TO BHMA that one of the heating systems had been operating at excessively high temperatures when switched on last winter, which he said indicated that it had exceeded its operating limits.
He expressed particular concern about the third boiler connected to the swimming pool, which has been closed for approximately 18 months following a decision by the Attika regional authorities over health regulation violations. Despite the closure, work has continued in the pool’s mechanical equipment room, he said.
“Our anger is enormous. Our children are alive by sheer luck,” Deligiannis told TO BHMA, expressing concern not only for students but also for athletes, older residents using nearby facilities and people living in the surrounding neighborhood. He questioned who could guarantee their safety and who would be held responsible if an accident occurred.
According to local residents, specialists have informed them that no leaks were detected in the sections of the gas network inspected with the valves closed. Deligiannis warned that a leak elsewhere in the gas network could not be ruled out, particularly as the source of the odor had yet to be identified.
An engineer hired by the parents has called for inspections to be extended to an area within a three- to four-kilometer radius (roughly 2 to 2.5 miles) of the school complex to check for possible leaks elsewhere in the gas network.
Parents have also expressed frustration over the response from the authorities, saying they have been referred from one agency to another without receiving clear answers about who is responsible for addressing the problem. “We remain exposed, while we continue to be passed from one government agency to another,” Deligiannis said, urging the authorities to take responsibility and find a solution before a more serious incident occurs.
The Grava school complex has remained closed since Oct. 10, with approximately 4,000 students attending classes remotely.
Source: TO BHMA