Santorini News

Disaster came knocking in Santorini , as the remains of a 1000 square meter roof, at an archaeological site in Arkotiri, collapsed. Killing a male tourist and injuring as many as 6 others, the steel structure gave way while workers were watering the soil, which was laid upon it to help regulate temperature and humidity at the site. The injured include a Greek worker.

Special rescue teams have been flown in from Athens and rescue efforts continued till late in the night, with no official statement released on how many people were trapped under the collapsed roof. All employees were accounted for, revealed the staff present at the site, though no information was available about the tourist who had been killed, or even the injured ones. Also unclear are the extent of damages the collapse had caused to the site and antiquities kept under it.

Construction of the roof in question began in 2000 and was to be completed in December. Since weather conditions were favorable, experts are pointing fingers at the quality of materials used for the construction of the roof.

In response to these accusations, J & P Avax – Impregilo – Embedos, the consortium in charge of the construction project, maintained that the highest technical standards had been maintained during the construction and the entire procedure had been under the supervision of the Archaeological Society. They further added that a panel of experts would be set up to probe the possible causes of the collapse.

Arriving at the site was Petros Tatoulis, Deputy Culture Minister, as the Culture Ministry had funded the project. He revealed that an investigation would be initiated to find out who was responsible for this unfortunate tragedy. Petros Tatoulis had approved the opening of the site in 2004, before its completion, just before the Athens Olympics.

The site of the Minoan town is believed to have been a significant area, till it was destructed by a huge volcano sometime in the 17th century BC.