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Moria refugee camp on Lesbos “99 percent burned down”
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Moria refugee camp almost completely burned down
Several fires have devastated the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. It is not yet clear if there are deaths or injuries. The camp was evacuated by the authorities.
Dramatic scenes in Moria on Lesbos: residential containers caught fire, then almost the entire camp caught fire. Thousands of migrants fled the flames. The warehouse had previously been quarantined due to a corona case. There is a state of emergency on the island.
reThe Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos burned almost completely on Wednesday night after several fires broke out. The fire continued into the early hours of the morning, fanned by winds of up to 70 kilometers per hour.
According to Greek media reports, authorities began evacuating the camp that night after the residential containers caught fire. More than 12,000 people fled in panic. The children are deeply frightened, the parents are in shock. There were no injuries, but several people with mild smoke inhalation. The Greek government announced a state of emergency on Lesbos that morning.
According to the fire department, several fires broke out both inside the camp and in the area. The president of the fire brigade union said in the morning that the camp was “99 percent on fire.” The Greek news agency ANA reported that the fires had started after a riot in the countryside.
Fear of Corona aggravated situation in Moria
This was preceded by riots among the migrants because the camp had been quarantined last week after a first case of corona. Then it was announced on Tuesday that the number of infected people was 35. Later, some migrants wanted to leave the camp to avoid contracting the virus, the Greek semi-state news agency ANA-MPA reported. On the other hand, some infected people and their contacts who were supposed to be isolated refused to leave the camp and be detained.
After the fire broke out, residents of the camp threw stones at the firefighters and tried to prevent them from doing the extinguishing work, the operations manager reported on television. Special units of the riot police were in action. The videos on social networks showed lost, scared people and also those who sang “Goodbye, Moria!”.
Many of the more than 12,000 migrants and refugees who last lived in the camp fled to the surrounding forests and hills, while others made their way to the island’s capital Mytilene, Greek media reported. In some places, the islanders are said to have opposed them and blocked their way.
There have always been tensions in Moria, because of the crown problem, the situation now literally exploded, Mytilinis mayor Stratos Kytelis told Greek state broadcaster ERT. It is not known where people should stay now, thousands are homeless. The situation is also a huge burden for the locals.
The Moria refugee camp has been desperately overcrowded for years; According to the Greek Migration Ministry, around 12,600 refugees and migrants, mostly from Afghanistan, Syria and the Congo, with a capacity of just 2,800 places, lived there.
The spokesman for “Mission Lifeline” in Dresden, Axel Steier, explained that the residents of the overcrowded camp were “exposed to extreme psychological stress”. The blockage caused the barrel to overflow. “We warned that it would escalate,” Steier emphasized. The federal government has been repeatedly asked to evacuate the camp: “The refugees in Moria are not treated as people.”
