
Kolian Ilia is reported to be one of three thieves who has been arrested by the Greek Police, as a suspect in the explosion that occurred a month ago in the "Plaka" neighborhood, where three Albanians and an American citizen lost their lives. Two Greek citizens were also victims.
He and two Greek thieves broke into the first floor of the building and stole copper pipes to sell, causing damage and gas leaks, which then accumulated and in the morning the deadly explosion occurred.
The three arrested people, two Greeks aged 34 and 54 and the 37-year-old Albanian national, face serious criminal charges over the deadly explosion in Plaka last September, which killed six people.
Fire investigators reviewed dozens of security camera videos, managing to reconstruct the suspects' movements before and after they entered the building. The footage shows three people approaching the neoclassical building at approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 25.
Two of them entered the stairs and stayed inside for several minutes, before leaving carrying a piece of copper pipe.
The investigation was complemented by findings from the laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens, which identified the leak point inside the building, near the natural gas meter on the ground floor. This discovery was particularly important, as it directed the investigation towards the internal installation rather than the external network.
The three arrested individuals have been in the hands of authorities dozens of times in the past for various criminal offenses, including theft, robbery, possession of weapons, drugs, and serious bodily harm.
Florida Hoxha and Florin Hoxha (sister and brother), Eris Cani (Florin's wife) and Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick (Florida's American husband), are the four members of an Albanian family who tragically lost their lives after the explosion and collapse of a building in Athens.