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On Wednesday night it burned at various locations in the infamous Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Several thousand are said to have fled the camp, which has been quarantined due to corona infection.
Footage from the night of the camp through Wednesday shows huge flames in Europe’s largest refugee camp, which serves as a residence for nearly 13,000 people.
VG has received photographs of the situation from Nadine Aabø Mellem, who works with humanitarian work in the Moria refugee camp.
– The entire tenant is on fire, he texted VG around 02 o’clock.
When VG first contacted her Wednesday night, she worked hard to evacuate the children from the flames.
IN LESVOS: Nadine Aabø Mellem works as a humanitarian worker in the Moria refugee camp.
An hour later, he says the place is on fire and police are blocking the way for refugees trying to reach nearby villages.
– Families with small children in their arms sit along the road. We are waiting to be evacuated, while the police stand with shields and block the way to the water and nearby towns, he writes in an SMS.
Right after kl. 03 she writes that the police won’t let them leave the field.
– I have known groups with singles that I have worked with for several weeks. They have nothing and they ask me where to evacuate them. I have tried to talk to the security forces and the military, but they are more concerned with securing the area so that no one leaves. They say that all the minors have been evacuated, but I have come across various groups looking for places to hide.
At 04.30, Aabø Mellem writes in a new text message:
– All Moria is gone. Totally burned.
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– We are waiting for the light of day
VG has not contacted the Lesbos police. However, a police representative told the Reuters news agency that the camp’s residents have been transported to safety.
The AP news agency writes that several thousand more have fled the camp. So far no injuries have been reported and the fire will be under control early Wednesday morning.
– The fire spread inside and outside the camp and has destroyed it. 12,000 refugees are guarded by the police on the main road, says the mayor of the island’s capital, Mytilini Stratis Kytelis, on the Greek channel Skai.
He adds that more people must have also fled to the nearby mountains.
– We are waiting for dawn to see what happened. I hope the evacuation was carried out safely.
The cause of the fires is not yet known, but there must have been riots and clashes and disagreements in the camp on Tuesday night due to the crown’s measures, Skai reports. Mayor Kytelis says the fires “were not a coincidence.”
35 cases of infection have been confirmed in the field, after the first case of infection this weekend, writes Reuters.
Lesvos Post reports that people inside the camp threw stones at firefighters at the scene, and local authorities confirmed to the AP that the fire service has encountered resistance from some residents in the camp.
According to Reuters, 28 firefighters with nine fire trucks and volunteers battled the flames. The island’s fire brigade was under a lot of pressure until Wednesday night: When the fires broke out in Moria, they were already fighting forest fires in Vatousa and Antissa, writes CNN Greece.
– People are panicking
The Stand by me Lesvos organization reports on their Facebook pages that they have also received reports that refugees experienced blocking of entry to nearby villages.
– People are panicking. It’s total chaos. This could be the end for Moria, Shirin Tinnesand, who is in Lesbos for the organization, tells TV 2.
– Moria is devastated. It’s a big, big fire, which is not yet under control, she writes an SMS to VG.
Residents of the Moria camp out of the camp until Wednesday night. According to the photographer, they are trying to reach the island’s capital, Mytilene, among other things.
Tinnesand didn’t have time to talk to VG, but wrote in an SMS around kl. 03.30 who worked with the police and firefighters to evacuate the refugees who were caught in the fire.
– We just rescued 40 people who were trapped. Through some coordination over the phone, they explained how many where they were, this was passed on to the firefighters and the police so that we would remove them.
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Coronasmitte
This weekend, a corona infection was detected for the first time in the Moria camp, which has been in quarantine until September 15, NTB writes. Tinnestad says that people have not been adequately informed about the crown’s measures and that they are not surprised by the chaos.
– People have not been adequately informed about the crown’s measures and the experience of being detained when they are picked up by voluntary organizations. That is why the riots have broken out, he tells TV 2.
Mayor Stratis Kytelis of Mytilini says according to AP that the situation is difficult, because some of the people who are now outside the camp may be infected with the coronavirus.
The part so far isolated with those who tested positive is completely burned out. If the infected have not been evacuated, but have only fled the flames and are among the others, it will be very critical, says Nadine Aabø Mellem to VG.
The Greek authorities and several international organizations are involved in the Moria operation and, according to the UN, the state of the camp is very bad.
On Friday last week, the Minister for Children and Families, Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, told VG that Norway will soon be ready to pick up unaccompanied minors and families with children from Moria.
