THESSALONIKI, Greece — A tragic incident unfolded on Monday when a fire broke out at a hotel, claiming the life of its owner and resulting in 11 individuals requiring hospitalization close to the ancient monasteries of Meteora in central Greece.
The hotel, a three-story establishment located in Kalambaka—a town adjacent to Meteora—sustained significant damage, fire service officials reported. Emergency responders managed to rescue 26 individuals, including those who were subsequently hospitalized; several were saved from balconies using crane equipment.
The hotel’s owner, a 55-year-old man, succumbed to injuries sustained after he fell from a balcony before the firefighters arrived on the scene. Costas Papapoulios, the leader of the local hoteliers’ association, stated that the displaced guests were being accommodated in other nearby hotels, with the costs covered by the association and the local government. “The owner was attempting to assist guests and likely found himself trapped,” Papapoulios explained. “It remains uncertain whether he leaped from the balcony to escape the flames or if he lost his footing due to the smoke and fell.”
The hotel primarily catered to tourists visiting the UNESCO World Heritage site of Meteora, known for its 24 Orthodox Christian monasteries that date back approximately 600 years and are perched atop steep rock formations rising as high as 550 meters (1,800 feet). Located around 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of Athens, Meteora is a favored destination for short getaways. Eyewitness accounts of the fire described scenes of chaos in the early morning hours on Monday, with some local residents attempting to escape by using bed sheets to descend from balconies. The blaze severely damaged much of the hotel’s interior, causing extensive soot damage to the walls and ceilings in various rooms and hallways where firefighters conducted their rescue operations.
Among those injured were four children, all of whom were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Trikala. A total of 34 firefighters, supported by 12 vehicles, responded to the emergency. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, with officials working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
