Four Americans have been identified as the victims of a building collapse in Athens, Greece, on September 25. The deceased include newlyweds Ian Alexander Kirkpatrick, 37, and his wife Florida Hoxha, 34, along with Hoxha's brother, Florin Hoxha, and his wife, Eris Cani, who was five-and-a-half months pregnant. Investigators suspect that a gas leak may have triggered an explosion that caused their two-story Airbnb in the historic Plaka district to collapse.
Kirkpatrick and Hoxha were married on August 30 and had spent their honeymoon in Greece after a week in Mexico. They were killed on the day they were scheduled to return to the United States, having already checked in for their Delta flight but failing to arrive at the airport.
Kirkpatrick was a senior lawyer and a graduate of Huntington High School, who had worked for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for the past five years. His mother, Suzanne Nelson, described him as a wonderful person with a zest for life. Florida Hoxha, a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law and Emory University, had aspirations in politics and worked for the New York Legal Assistance Group.
Florin Hoxha, 36, co-founded Prufock Builders with his brother, while his wife, Eris Cani, was an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Touro College. Cani had a background in pharmacy and had worked at various medical institutions.
In addition to the four Americans, two Greek nationals, Edmond Hings, 78, and his wife Athena Papaprescou, 77, were also killed in the collapse. Greek authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, focusing on a potential gas leak in the apartment where Hings and his wife were staying, and are examining adjacent buildings deemed dangerous by officials.