Decrease article font size Increase article font size At least two people are injured and five are missing after a building collapsed following a powerful explosion in the tourist district of Plaka in the Greek capital, near the ancient Acropolis, on Friday morning. The explosion caused a two-story building to collapse and the two injured people were rescued from an adjacent building, authorities said, according to The Associated Press. Rescuers with a sniffer dog were searching the rubble for missing people, the fire department said. 1:46 Employee dies in propane explosion at Bellemere Winds Golf Resort near Peterborough. The building collapsed, while neighboring buildings were also damaged. Residents said two people lived in one of the apartments in the building, and there were media reports that three tourists may have stayed in a short-term rental apartment also in the building, The Associated Press reports. Get the latest national news Get the latest Canadian news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you don’t miss any breaking news. The fire department said it rescued two women and they were taken to a local hospital. The explosion occurred in the Plaka district, the historic part of Athens that lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill, the most visited ancient monument in Greece. Fire Service spokesperson Efi Papavramopoulou told local outlet eKathimerini that neighbors provided authorities with information about an elderly couple living on the upper floor of the collapsed building and three tourists who may have been in a short-term rental located on the ground floor. building that collapsed. More about the world More videos “We are doing everything we can,” Papavramopoulou said. Firefighters work at the scene after a powerful explosion that caused a building to collapse and injured at least two people in the Plaka district of Athens, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris Authorities said the search and rescue operation was still continuing several hours after the explosion. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but local media said a gas leak was suspected. The gas network management company, Enaon EDA, told eKathimerini it was investigating the cause of the explosion.—With files from The Associated Press © 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.