Swift probe into roof collapse
2005-09-26 22:48
Athens - The Greek government promised on Monday to speedily conclude an investigation into the deadly collapse of a huge steel shelter protecting a major archaeological site on the resort island of Santorini.
Friday's freak accident at the prehistoric site of Akrotiri prompted its indefinite closure, pending repairs to the $48m newly completed structure.
One British man was killed and five other tourists were injured while visiting the remains of the 3 600-year-old buildings. Three engineers involved in the project face a minimum 10 years' imprisonment if convicted on charges of second-degree murder.
"This was an extreme incident from which we must draw lessons for the future," Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis said on Monday. "The ministry will seek the root causes to ensure such a tragedy never occurs again."
Tatoulis, however, said he couldn't yet offer an estimate of the damage to the ancient buildings, some of which survived to a height of three storeys.
Covering the well-preserved remains of a flourishing Bronze Age town described as Greece's Pompeii, the earth-covered roof had been billed as a marvel of environmentally friendly architecture that would protect the site for centuries to come while blending into the landscape.
Although built to withstand earthquakes of magnitude greater than 7.5 - Santorini hosts an active volcano - the shelter crashed down without warning on Friday, stunning experts and harming Greece's image as a safe destination for cultural tourism.
Shelter architect Nikos Fintikakis said he couldn't speculate on the causes of the accident, as he hadn't yet been allowed access to the site.
"This was a groundbreaking project with very special specifics, a truly vast work ... designed to cope with high-risk situations," Tatoulis said. "The big question is, how could a whole section of this structure collapse?"
The roof covers a total area of 14 000 sq. metres.
Akrotiri was one of the main urban centres in the Aegean until its destruction in the 17th century BC during a tremendous volcanic explosion that caused a large part of the island to disappear underwater and sent ash as far as Greenland.
The town - abandoned in advance by its inhabitants - was buried under thousands of tons of volcanic ash and pumice.
Archaeologists who excavated the site discovered multi-storeyed buildings, remains of an advanced plumbing system and fine art and craftmanship that included spectacular frescoes, vases and bronze vessels.
The new shelter replaced a rusted metal-scaffold system installed after systematic excavations began at Akrotiri in the late 1960s. Work started in 1999, and disaster struck one week before the site had been to close for the final touches to be applied.
- SAPA