It was early morning on December 19, 1980 and Athens was already dressed in its festive clothes in anticipation of Christmas. The shops in the center of Athens were a magnet for young and old to do their shopping, And yet that day would mark the life of Athens.
Passing through, the clock showed 03:07 in the morning “Mignon” and “Katrantzos” stores They heard a series of explosions and watched in horror as flames shot out of two buildings. The fire department was immediately informed, however the combustible materials in the two department stores helped the fire to spread quickly.
Within minutes, the center of Athens was surrounded by the fire department and police, while 170 firefighters were thrown into the battle to put out the blaze. All this “at a time when there was an immediate danger of fire spreading to hotels located next to Mignon. The fear of the authorities was the oil tanks located in the basement of the “Mignon”, because they were filled with at least 28 tons.
If the flames get there, the whole area around Omonia Square will be in great danger. The fire is very serious “Partners” Only a skeleton remained, and Katrantzou’s building collapsed.
The then Prime Minister Georgios Rallis was among the first to arrive at the disaster site to witness the situation. In his first reports, he spoke of a “massive disaster”, while the fire brigade estimated the cost of damage at 2 billion drachmas. In his statements, store owner Giannis Georgakas said that 2 billion drachmas were the price of the goods. “Minion” had more than 120,000 codes and indicated that it was the 11th largest supermarket in Europe with approximately 1,000 employees. Notably, “Minion” was the first to install escalators and air conditioning in Greece. – Service restaurant service.
Taking responsibility
From the first moments when the two department stores caught fire, everyone wondered who was behind the attacks. “November 17”? “Come”; or any other terrorist organization. Eventually, a branch of “ELA”, the newly founded “October ’80” revolutionary organization, took over its telephone calls to newspapers.
Front pages of newspapers of that time
Declaration
On December 22, a notice sent to the dailies said, “Like every industry, they are based on the exploitation of the proletariat. Capitalists take advantage of the proletariat’s need for income to survive and force them into wage labour, alienation and misery.”
Both of these fires had political ramifications with Andreas Papandreou’s PASOK, which was on the brink of power, accusing New Democracy of “allowing itself to engage in disasters affecting professionals and workers, as well as world peace”. , the KKE spoke of a “dark case”.
“November 17” said there was a “civil war” between terrorist organizations, “operationally uncoordinated, poorly prepared and politically harmful” actions, while the ELA for its part criticized its members who left the organization “October 80”.
Searches lead nowhere
One of the first tasks of officers is to arrest criminals. Therefore, the first arrest of the suspect was carried out immediately, however, as there was no evidence to charge, the man was soon released. Subsequently, two sisters, Ikaterini and Evangelia Sagaraki, 23 and 20 years old respectively, were arrested, on the grounds that one of the two was associated with persons active in the anti-authority space. However, even in these cases the evidence was insufficient, so both the girls were acquitted.
Six months later, on June 3, 1981, the “Kladatos” and “Athen” department stores were set on fire simultaneously, as well as in “Draganas” on July 4. Three days later, the “Lampropoulos” supermarket in Piraeus was also engulfed in flames.
To this day, the two cases of arson at the department stores “Kadrantzos” and “Mignon”, like the other four cases that followed, remain unsolved and judicially barred.
Minions reboot
Almost two years later, specifically in 1983, “Minion” opened its doors again, but nothing was like before. This is because its reopening was carried out with borrowing, while it was nationalized due to debts. A year after nationalization, it went back into the hands of its original owner. Years passed by a tournament in 2021 p
Reopening
“Mignon” was reopened in 1983 with debts, then nationalized due to debts, and a year later it returned to the hands of the original owner. In 1998, the building was acquired by Elmek Sports, and after its acquisition it was handed over to Folly Folly Group. In 2021, the Mignon building was put up for tender, with real estate development company Demand bidding with an offer exceeding 25 million euros, and the old Mignon’s new building is expected to reopen its doors in 2023.
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