Two people ⁠have died and another four ⁠are missing after a residential building collapsed following an explosion in a tourist area of central Athens, a Greek fire brigade official said on Saturday.

The blast on Friday destroyed a two-storey ‌building in Plaka, near some of Athens’ most visited sites including the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus, injuring three people, damaging nearby houses, shops and cars, and sending rubble and broken glass as far as three blocks away.

Emergency crews in heavy gear and red helmets ⁠assisted by rescue dogs were looking for an elderly couple who lived in ‌one flat and four tourists who were staying in another.

They found the bodies of a man and a young ‌woman on Saturday as they removed debris from the building which ⁠was reduced ⁠to a mess of twisted metal, shattered tiles and concrete slabs, the fire brigade official said.