Recriminations rage over Greek wildfire deaths
THE Greek government and residents traded recriminations over devastating wildfires yesterday as a minister suggested “criminal” unregulated building had blocked escape routes.
Panos Kammenos, the defence minister, claimed that unlicensed holiday homes in the area around Mati carried some responsibility for the heavy loss of life.
“This coast of Athens, all these properties, the majority are without a licence,” he told reporters in Mati.
Furious residents had earlier shouted the minister down as he entered the village. “You let people burn. You left us at the mercy of God,” said one woman who lost her home in the fire.
Vagelis Bournos, the mayor, defended his decision not to evacuate the area as “citizens do not follow evacuation plans but they stay behind to protect their households”.
Residents suspect the labyrinthine layout of the resort, where a handful of alleyways lead down to the beach, hampered escape efforts.
A group of 26 people, whose charred bodies were found behind a closed door leading to one of the alleyways, are believed to have perished because they could not find the escape route.
Dozens of relatives began submitting their DNA yesterday to help identify rows of burned corpses in the region’s morgues.
Greek fire experts claim local authorities failed to enforce fire safety regulations that could have saved lives.
Nikos Toskas, the citizen protection minister, said last night that Greece had “serious indications” the wildfire was caused by arson.
A British mother told last night how she escaped the blaze by hiding in a cave with her teenage son. “Because we were down there the flames from above couldn’t get anywhere near. But we were still in panic mode thinking about what would happen if the water rose,” said Zoe Cormack, 41, from Bristol.