The owner of “Violanta” factory sent to prison – “I did not know about the technical issues” he claimed

The owner of the “Violanta” biscuit factory was remanded in custody today, Thursday (19/2), after a lengthy testimony, for the deadly explosion that claimed the lives of five female employees.

During his testimony before the investigating judge, he placed the blame on those responsible for the topographic surveys and studies, the contractors who carried out the works, and the specialists who conducted inspections without detecting the propane leak in the facilities.

His testimony lasted until just before 18:30, after 4.5 hours on the fifth floor of the Trikala court building.

According to a report by ERT, he stated that he was “shocked” by the explosion and the loss of his five employees.

He claimed that he did not know about the danger and that his children used to play in that area. He placed the blame on those who signed the company’s studies and denied any knowledge of everything happening in the factory.

The factory owner is said to have argued that he is a person managing and running a company with a very large turnover and could not have known about the technical issues. He also stated that he would support the families of the victims until the end, as well as the remaining employees.

Shortly after 20:30, the investigating judge and the prosecutor decided to remand the owner in custody.

The owner of “Violanta” was taken to the Trikala Police Department yesterday, and today, Thursday (19/2), he is expected to be transferred to prison.

His testimony, although lengthy, raised many questions for the prosecutor, who repeated inquiries to get answers. However, the owner seemed to stick to the line that had been agreed upon with his two lawyers, who were present throughout the investigation. He claimed that he did not know because his collaborators, whom he trusted, knew, as he had no technical knowledge to solve these specific issues.

A friend of the owner, who spoke to the media yesterday, stated that he had no idea what had happened and that he had given a “blank check” to his collaborators to do all the studies and work.

It is noted that outside the Trikala courts, employees gathered on Wednesday afternoon to express support for the owner of “Violanta.”

The management ignored the evidence and the testimony of the plumber

Meanwhile, the evidence included in the massive case file, from employee testimonies about the strong smell of propane in the factory that was ignored by the management, is revealing.

Specifically, according to ERT’s information, the case file includes explosive testimonies that demonstrate complete disregard for safety systems:

Alarms Ignored: There is a testimony about an alarm repeatedly sounding in the oatmeal production oven during the last week. The shift supervisor allegedly deactivated the system, assuming it was a “wrong message.” It remains to be determined if it was indeed a wrong message or not.
Management Notification: Supervisors of all shifts testify that they had conveyed complaints about the unbearable smell to the management, receiving instructions to pour cleaning chemicals into the drain, insisting that the odor came from the sewers.
Critical Hours Before the Explosion: An employee testified that the bad smell was still strong just a few hours before the fateful Monday morning but no preventive measures were taken.

At the same time, new videos from the explosion surfaced, and new elements have emerged from the chilling testimony of the plumber who installed the propane pipe, as well as another plumber who informed the production manager about the strong gas smell.

Violanta: The fire department’s findings

Meanwhile, several irregularities are recorded in the 18-page report by the Directorate for Combustion Crimes (D.A.E.E.), which concludes with a damning finding stating that “even if there were leak detectors within the building that burned, they would not have worked effectively because the electric valve was disconnected and could not perform its main function, which was to stop the gas supply.”

It also states that the above-ground propane tanks had no water-spraying system, i.e., no cooling system in case of fire. Earlier photographs from 2024 show that this system was installed above the tanks, but it is not clear when and by whom it was removed.

The survivors’ testimonies are heartbreaking

An employee who worked at the biscuit factory that fateful night recalls everything in detail and is heartbreaking.

“The lights went out, and I heard a loud noise that I compare to a grenade explosion, and I saw various objects flying, and from the position where I was, I saw a door in front of me that may have opened due to the explosion. I immediately ran outside to the back side, where the propane tanks are. I went to the raw materials warehouse to return to the building with the fire to help the women in my shift, and I saw three women hugging, covered in blood,” says the employee.

Another employee states that hours before the fatal explosion, specifically at 12:30, they were in the dishwashing area. The smell of gas, they say, was again intense.

“I asked H., ‘Do you smell something strange, like gas?’ and he replied, ‘I don’t know, maybe it’s fumes from the dishwasher.'” The information spread among colleagues that the production manager had said that the smell was due to a dishwasher short circuit in the dishwashing area. During the months I worked in this position, I noticed the smell about 10 times in the dishwashing area.”

A worker in the production department, who had worked there for about ten years, had just finished her break and returned to her post, but she couldn’t imagine what would follow.

“I heard a very loud bang, the power went out, everything went dark, and panels started flying everywhere. I fell, probably from the shockwave. I had noticed a smell that seemed like gas near the oven. Others had noticed it too. 4-5 times in the last month during the night shift, I smelled a strong odor, it seemed like gas in the dishwashing area and the restroom,” she said.

Another night-shift worker, who miraculously survived, was in the right side of the building when the fire broke out in the left side, where the five victims were found.

“At some point, there was a loud explosive sound, the area darkened, and there was a shockwave that threw us all to the floor,” she stated.

The testimony of the guard, who had a shift that fatal night and was a few minutes away from the explosion site and survived, is also chilling.

“With a flashlight in hand, I passed by the propane tanks, which were to my right, and continued five meters away when I heard two explosions. A shockwave threw me about one meter, and when I got up, I realized that a fire had broken out in the area where the production and packaging were, and I heard voices coming from inside the factory where the fire had occurred,” he said.

Workers also reported that in the last few years, two smaller explosions had occurred in the factory’s ovens, which required fire extinguisher intervention.