Greece says ‘criminal acts’ may have sparked wildfires
ATHENS (AFP) — Greece’s government yesterday said it suspected “criminal acts” might have sparked the fire that resulted in the death of most of the 82 people killed in the country’s worst ever wildfires this week.
“For the fire that started in Mt. Pentelicus and spread to the coastal region of Mati, east of Athens on Monday, there are a number of questions and I do not hide from you that a serious piece of information has led to us opening an investigation,” Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said at a news conference.
He said there were also “serious ele- ments and traces” that another fire, which broke out hours earlier on Monday near Kineta to the west of the Greek capital, was “intentionally” lit. No one died in the Kineta fire.
“There are testimonies, but I cannot say anything more now,” Toskas added at the news conference in Athens, which was also attended by government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and fire and police chiefs.
He said the government had passed all evidence to prosecutors, and it will become part of a preliminary investigation opened by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Toskas also stressed that “climate conditions were extreme due to climate change.”
As the government comes under heavy criticism following the disaster, spokesman Tzanakopoulos said “the evacuation of Mati was possible because the phenomenon only lasted an hour and a half.”
He added that the winds, which reached 120 kilometers an hour, were “the strongest recorded in the last eight years.”
Toskas said “the casualties are great and we are all devastated.”
“For reasons of conscience and not due to errors, I submitted my resignation to Prime Minister Alelis Tsipras, but he replied that it was time to fight and did not accept it,” Toskas said.