Fire-stricken Greeks demand PM action
ATHENS — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced mounting criticism on Saturday after wildfires that killed at least 88 people plunged Greece into grief just as it was healing from years of painful bailouts.
Survivors and political opponents accused Tsipras and his government of insensitivity for not apologizing for Greece’s deadliest blaze in memory and for failing to prevent the tragedy.
He cut short a visit to Bosnia on Monday night, rushing home hours after the killer blaze broke out near Athens. But falling off the radar for three days after that has infuriated some people.
“How does he plan to redeem this political responsibility? What does political responsibility mean?” a 79-year-old man standing in front of his burned home told Skai TV.
Venting anger, survivors and political opponents want to see officials resign over the failure to prevent the disaster amid questions on why an evacuation did not take place.
Tsipras appeared on TV screens on Friday to chair a cabinet meeting after an official three days of mourning ended. Aides said he had been busy coordinating the disaster response.
He said he took “full political responsibility” for the disaster. But for those who survived the inferno the words meant little.
“Words are nice ... but I want him to tell me and the people who perished, our friends ... whose fault it is, if not his. I’ve reached my limits.”
On Monday night, five hours after the fire had started, state TV showed Tsipras rushing from the airport to an operations center in Athens, asking ministers in a live broadcast what happened and how many personnel had been deployed to put out the flames.
He did not ask nor was he told anything about fatalities in Mati, the small seaside town where dozens were trapped by advancing flames and died. At least not on camera.
After announcing three days of mourning later that day, Tsipras was invisible until Friday. He is not known to have visited any of the survivors in hospital.
“He was in his office, chairing meeting after meeting, with the citizen protection minister, the interior minister, the mayors; he was busy coordinating the operation,” one government official said.
Tsipras has promised closure, saying the government will look into what went wrong and fix past failings to avoid a repeat tragedy. Whether the Mati disaster will damage his popularity further remains to be seen and will be decided by his actions, analysts said.