Greece blaze was ‘arson’

POLICE HAVE TESTIMONIES TO PROVE IT – MINISTER

Greece said on Thursday it suspected arson was behind a devastating forest fire that killed at least 83 people and turned the small town of Mati east of Athens into a wasteland of death and destruction.

In one of the worst disasters in Greece in living memory, Monday night’s blaze trapped dozens of people in cars trying to flee a barrelling wall of flames.

“We have serious indications and significant signs suggesting the criminal actions of arson,” Civil Protection Minister Nikos Toskas told a news conference. He said police had testimonies to that effect, but did not elaborate.

On Wednesday, police were investigating how the fire started from three different locations at the same time, as a second major fire was raging west of the capital. With the toll expected to rise, about 300 firemen and volunteers were combing the area for dozens still missing.

In a nation numbed by the scale of devastation, desperate relatives appeared on television to plead for information on those missing, while questions mounted about how people got trapped and why no evacuation order was issued.

“This shouldn’t have happened, people perished for no reason,” a woman shouted at Defence Minister Panos Kammenos as he visited the town. Maria Sarieva, who was looking for her sister, said: “Nothing happened to her car, the house was not burned, so where is she?”

Unlicensed building, a known feature of Greece, was also blamed. About 500 homes were destroyed and the fire brigade said there were more to be checked. –