Village evacuated after mine collapse

Dozens of villagers in Greece were evacuated from their homes yesterday after a nearby lignite mine collapsed.

All 182 inhabitants of the village of Anargyroi, north-west Greece, had to be housed in hotels after leaving their homes, some of which are already collapsing in the unstable soil, a village official said.

“Some houses have been split in half,” said Giorgos Pinopoulos, the village’s deputy mayor.

The government had warned six years ago that the mine posed a threat and the village should be relocated.

It had passed legislation that would allow the village to relocate on expropriated land, with the cost of relocation split in half between the Greek state and state-owned electricity company PPC, which operates the mine.

But nothing had been done to implement the legislation, with the state alleging it was short of funds because of the financial crisis that hit Greece in 2008 and has resulted in severe budget cuts.