A car with 75 kg of explosives exploded in the center of Athens

The area in Amerikis street looks like a bombarded landscape after the explosion which occurred at 05:55 outside the Bank of Greece. Two threatening phone calls informed about a car with 75 kg of explosives. The anti-terrorist unit has already started collecting information and data from the area in order to clarify how the offenders acted.

According to information, an eyewitness saw one or two people parking a car outside the building and then leaving on a motorbike, while a few minutes later two phone calls were made. Both of them had their faces covered. According to the same information, the driver of the car was wearing a helmet. Officers are investigating, among other things, the security cameras in order to check whether the movements of the offenders have been recorded before and after parking the booby-trapped car.

Watch the video of the moment of explosion:



According to the evidence so far, an unknown person called at 5:10 at the Zougla news website and at 5:15 at the “Efimerida ton Sintakton” newspaper and said: “There is a car with 75 kg of explosives that will blow up in 45 minutes. It is located between on Amerikis street, outside the Bank of Greece”.

The area was immediatelly closed off by police forces, where a stolen car was spotted, NISSAN SUNNY, that seemed to be the trapped vehicle. The police promptly removed the employees who were working at that moment and closed off the whole area to avoid people getting injured.



At 05:55 the deafening noise of the explosion was heard. The explosion destroyed completely the car and caused damages to buildings and shops. Officers of the Anti-terrorist unit and Forensic Investigation unit are searching and investigating the area.


Also, at the point where they left the car, parking cars is stricktly prohibited and the area is considered the most guarded one because of the organizations and businesses located there. Metro stations operate normally.

The car was parked on the right side of Amerikis street, where the Bank of Greece and the Greek National Council for Radio and Television are located. On the left side of the same street offices of the Piraeus Bank, an exit of Attica mall and theater “Aliki” are also located.

Massive damages – Fragments reached Old Parliament building

In the meanwhile, it seems that the damage caused to the building of the Bank of Greece is huge. Damages were caused to the surrounding buildings, too.



No organization has claimed responsibility - Questions arising

No organization has taken responsibility so far. Questions arise concerning the motivation and purpose of the offenders, as they didn't choose a random day, since Greece returns to the markets and tomorrow Merkel is visiting Athens.

Also, a great concern is caused due to the fact that the explosion occurred after the resignation of the Chief of Greek Police, Nikos Papagiannopoulos, submitted on Wednesday in view of the completion of his term.