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The Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos was completely destroyed by fires and some 13,000 people were displaced. So far there is no information on victims. According to the mayor of the small town of Moria, Yiannis Mastroyiannis, the fire broke out after the 35 asylum seekers who tested positive for COVID-19 refused to be transferred to an isolation center.
From that moment the clashes between refugees began, with some starting to set fire, both inside the compound and in the olive grove that surrounds the camp, according to the same source, cited by the Spanish news agency Efe.
Due to the strong winds, the flames spread rapidly and destroyed almost everything, especially containers and tents, he said.
“The fire spread in and out of the field and destroyed it. There are more than 12,000 migrants under police surveillance on a road,” the mayor of the island’s main city, Mylinene, was quoted as saying on Skai’s private radio. Associated Press (AP) news agency.
“It is a very difficult situation, because some of those who are abroad include people who are positive [em relação ao coronavírus]”added Mayor Stratos Kytelis.
According to firefighters, quoted by the France-Presse (AFP) news agency, “the fires spread through the meadow around the camp, but also within the structure,” they mobilized 25 operatives and 10 vehicles in the camp, which currently houses about 12,700 applicants. asylum, four times its capacity.
A photographer for the news agency France-Presse (AFP) at the scene reported that “almost the entire countryside is on fire, both inside and in the shops outside the olive grove.”
Absolute destruction in #Moria campground visible with the first ray of light this morning. About 12,000 people will have nowhere to sleep tonight, not even the flimsy tents they used to call home.
Video by @ moutafis77 #Greece #lesvos #lesbos #migrants #refugees pic.twitter.com/9XUkS1cSk2– (@KallergisK) September 9, 2020
“Asylum seekers flee the camp on foot towards the port of Mytilene, but are blocked by police vehicles,” added the same source.
An association of locals and refugees, Stand by Me Lesvos, wrote on the social network Twitter: “Everything is burning, people are fleeing.” “There are reports that the local population is blocking the passage [de refugiados] to the neighboring town ”, added the association.
The AP confirmed that riot police were deployed around the camp and along the five-kilometer route to Mytilene, in an apparent effort to prevent migrants from reaching the port.
According to the Greek news agency ANA, the fires started after the revolt of some isolated asylum seekers, after having tested positive for COVID-19.
Lesbos firefighters were also fighting two other wildfires in the western part of the island. There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Last week, Greek authorities detected a first case of coronavirus in the camp of Moria, a Somali resident, and quarantined the camp.
Health officials said Tuesday that they had diagnosed 35 cases of Covid-19 to date, after a major testing campaign in overcrowded facilities.
There are more than 24,000 asylum seekers in the country, who remain in overcrowded and unsanitary facilities.
The main refugee camps are established on five islands in the Aegean Sea.
According to the authorities, refugees arriving in Greece are “quarantined” in “separate structures” to prevent the spread of the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus.
So far, there have been no deaths from covid-19 in refugee camps in Greece.
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