New revelations “come to light” about the Luna Park in Pefkohori, Halkidiki, where a 19-year-old man died when he was thrown from a revolving seat. As SKAI revealed, last year the Luna Park had received an operating license from the Municipality on August 22.

The omissions and mistakes that led to the death of the 19-year-old have been put under the “microscope” of the competent authorities, while confusion of responsibilities and shifting of responsibilities make up the context of the unprecedented tragedy.

This year, on July 7, in an inspection by ELAS, it was found that the Luna Park did not have a permit, and two days later, on July 9, the police informed the Municipality about this, asking for measures to be taken.

In the period that followed, no fine or sealing of the site was imposed as the Municipality typically had 60 days to proceed with these actions.

Yesterday, when the case was completed and imposed, the defense of the owner of the amusement park produced five affidavits signed by a mechanic-engineer, dated May, certifying that the machines were in good condition.

Last year the Luna Park requested a temporary operating permit on June 1st, which was finally granted by the Municipality on August 22nd.

In the meantime, the inspection that was supposed to be done by the company that certifies the perfection of the machines was done on 4/8 of 2023.

Kozani had judged it inappropriate

All this at a time when the Municipality of Kozani had twice rejected the owner’s applications in a competition because there was no certification of suitability for the games.

In particular, last July, the 58-year-old owner of the amusement park was disqualified from bidding for a municipal festival in Kozani as he had not submitted all the necessary documents.

As the municipality typically states “no Certificates of Eligibility have been filed for any entertainment medium it states it will install».

“Of the 7 games that this person declared, 4 had expired control sheets and had not been updated and for the next three there was no certification document», characteristically describes the Deputy Mayor of Finance Konstantinos Kouros.

So while this particular amusement park is deemed unsuitable for the festival of the municipality of Kozani, it continues to operate normally in the municipality of Kassandra.

Until a child is killed and the business is finally sealed.

Confusion

The lawyer for the 19-year-old’s family complains that the amusement park officials knew that the seats were problematic.

“He had no other seats because they were broken. And the operator was changing the position of the passengers to find a stable position. It was in their knowledge. It wasn’t a random incident. These people knew they had a ticking time bomb on their hands“, emphasizes Mr. Nikolas Petridis.

Residents in Pefkohori complain that there were problems with toys in the second amusement park that the 58-year-old man maintained nearby.

However, the mayor Kassandra maintains that she did not know, because the amusement park had not announced its operation on the special NOTIFY BUSINESS platform.

She also declares herself incompetent for the suitability or otherwise of the amusement park machines.

“This particular amusement park had not notified the system this year. The machines are not licensed by the municipality, nor is the municipality responsible for its certification and controls” said Mayor Anastasia Chalkia, explaining that the entrepreneur must have in his hands all the licenses from all the competent agencies and present them when he is asked to check by the police or the competent agencies.

However, he had not checked the specific amusement parknor the National Transparency Authority.

The lawyer for the two arrested nevertheless maintains that the business was frequently inspected, although he admits that there was ambiguity regarding this year’s file.

“The man has had his business there for 20 years. That is, he has a license from the municipality, he has one thousand two. The machines have been checked periodically for many years. Old ones are replaced with new ones. And that means a company cannot work without having certification and such. It has been checked before the start of operation in this season” said Evrysthenis Koskinas with Mayor Kassandra denying it categorically, stressing that the company last got a license on 8/22/2023 and it is approval for the temporary operation of an amusement park for children.

The question is why did a life have to be lost first for the municipality to lock up a business that was operating without a license?

The mayor herself argues that because the company had no notification, she had no right to close the amusement park, except in the case of a tragic event.

The criminal history of the operator and the testimony of his colleague

Meanwhile, the 21-year-old operator of the machine that tragically killed the 19-year-old had a criminal past.

He had been accused of domestic violence and several thefts, and had been brought in several times as part of police checks in Roma camps.

An employee of the Luna Park in Kassandra Halkidiki claims that his colleague who was responsible for the fatal game, mishandled it.

“He shouldn’t have put an end to it, with such speed and the damage was done” he said, describing how the 21-year-old operator, despite the fact that he was responsible for human lives, operated casually.

“He thought it was a joke. He would also stand up in the machines and eat observations“, he said.

Representation

Reenactment of the operation of the fatal game, before the power supply was interrupted, were made by experts at the amusement park where the young man from Veria lost his life.

Under the supervision of the Police expert, a team of engineers, put into operation the fatal amusement park game, which caused the fatal injury of 19-year-old Giannis.

The seats were loaded with sandbags so that the test was carried out with weight on the structures and simulated a normal operation with occupants.

The operator suddenly increased the rotation speed, wanting to create conditions similar to the moment of the accident.

In the next few days, the opinion of the expert and the police on the causes of the unimaginable accident is expected to be delivered to the prosecutor Polygyros.