Greek fires: Residents 'worsened disaster' by illegal building

Greek fires: Residents 'worsened disaster' by illegal building

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammanos has contributed to the BBC illegal construction in one of the country's worst wild fire disasters.


He said that the construction of residents was a "crime" between wild areas, which resulted in the escape routes being blocked.

Mr Kammenos was confronted by the angry local people because he visited the areas destroyed by fire in the east of Athens this week.

At least 83 people have been killed and the teams fear that they will get more suffering because dozens and disappeared.

Greek fires: Residents 'worsened disaster' by illegal building

Rescue workers were on Thursday searching for a rock on the shores of the sea where at least two people were killed.

Many of the victims were caught near the rock because the fire was spread rapidly, surrounded by winds of 100 km / h (62 miles per hour).

'You left us alone'
Arriving in Mati, Mr. Kammenos was surrounded by those people who accused him of sacrificing.

A woman told the minister, "You burn people for some reason. You left us for God's mercy," with the local mayor and the army chief,

A man told the BBC that he had reached the fire station to ask for help, and the firefighters were unaware of the fire.

Another resident complained that people have been advised to jump in the sea, when most elderly were unable to reach the first place in the sea.


Many survivors were rescued from the sea, but dozens of victims were unable to reach water.

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Mr. Kammenos, a cooperative who led Nationalist Independent Greeks, dismissed the allegations that the government has failed to protect its citizens.


Media caption "The fire was chasing us in the water" - Survivor
He argued that the actions of some residents had stopped the roads on the beach.

"This is a crime from the past," he said. "This coast of Athens, all these properties, the majority are without license, and they have captured the coast without rules."

Rafina Mayor Evangelos Bornas says that one of the four houses has been completely destroyed by fire, while 50% more partially damaged.

A satellite map of the area disclosed the scale of fire damage, showing that more than half of the 12,760 acres of land was in residential areas.

The Mayor defended the role of the army, arguing that if the army was not able to spread the fire, it would push the entire area.


A troubled account emerged from the head of the Greek Forestry Association, Georges Papiadas, who had focused on his resources on fire in the west of Athens by firefighters, after exposing the East East Coast, still a disturbance with many people Has not happened.

When the fire started, he was in the village of Cocuno Limanaki on the southern shore of Mati. It was like a horror film, he said, requesting for the help of the injured and the elderly, and not in the situation of doing anything,

Mr. Papdis said that he had lost disasters in disaster and a friend was in serious condition in the hospital.

Of the missing people, nine-year-old girls are Vasiliki and Sophia Filipopoulou, who was with her grandparents near Mati at the time of the fire. 
The girls' father said that they thought they saved him in the footage broadcast by Greek TV.