Neon Nettle
© 2023 Neon Nettle

Subscribe to our mailing list

Advertise Contact About Us Our Writers T&C's Privacy Support Us © 2023 Neon Nettle All Rights Reserved.

Migrants Burn Down Refugee Camp in Greece - At Least One Confirmed Dead

Migrants set fire to camp while clashing with police on Greek Island of Lesbos

 on 30th September 2019 @ 12.00pm
migrants outside the burning moria refugee camp on the aegean island of lesbos  greece  sunday © press
Migrants outside the burning Moria refugee camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday

Protesting migrants set fire to a refugee camp in Greece on Sunday following violent clashes with police, according to reports.

Authorities say the overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Lesbos was burned down by migrant protesters.

Police have confirmed that at least one person has been killed in the blaze, and a burned body was taken to a local hospital.

Investigators say there is also information about an unconfirmed second death, that may be a child.

Lesbos mayor Stratis Kytelis told The Associated Press that "the situation is tense" at the scene of the fire.

"There is information about a dead mother and her child," Kytelis revealed.

"We haven't been able to confirm that yet."

UNHCR Greece later tweeted that "we learned with deep sadness that the lives of a woman and a child were lost in a fire on (Lesbos) today."

Police have yet to confirmed details of any more victims so far, however.

there are reports a mother and child have died in the fire at the migrant camp in lesbos  greece © press
There are reports a mother and child have died in the fire at the migrant camp in Lesbos, Greece

According to local reports, Greek police spokesman Lt. Col. Theodoros Chronopoulos told the AP that the migrants set a fire at an olive grove outside the camp just before 5 p.m. (1400 GMT; 9 a.m. EDT) and, minutes later, inside the camp.

Kytelis said that both fires were later extinguished.

Police said Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Lefteris Oikonomou, a former chief of the Greek police, was going to Lesbos.

About 12,000 migrants, most of them Afghans, are housed in a space designed for 3,000.

Separately, Greek police said a speeding car carrying 12 Afghan migrants ran through a red light and crashed into a vehicle coming from a side street, killing its driver, a 64-year-old Greek man.

Police said one migrant was seriously injured and three others were slightly injured in the crash Sunday morning on a road between Kavala and Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

Some of the migrants were found in the sedan's trunk.

police have stated that the refugee camp fire was started by migrants © press
Police have stated that the refugee camp fire was started by migrants

The driver of the car with the migrants has been arrested.

Police said he is a 25-year-old Moldovan trafficker who was taking migrants toward Thessaloniki, 22 kilometers (14 miles) to the west.

When asked by the AP whether the trafficker's car was being pursued, a police spokesman said that wasn't the case.

But other police officials said the car might have been monitored by authorities in an unmarked vehicle.

All spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

[RELATED] Italy Deports 1500 Migrants, Bulldozes Refugee Camp

Share:
tags: migrants | Fire
Steve Quayle Neon Nettle telegram

Facebook is heavily censoring information from independent sources.

To bypass internet censorship, connect with us directly by enabling our notifications (using the red subscription bell in the bottom right corner) or by subscribing to our free daily newsletter.

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox for free every day by signing up below.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Subscribe to our mailing list

Follow Neon Nettle


PREV
BOOKMARK US
NEXT
on Nettle">BOOKMARK US NEXT on Nettle">BOOKMARK US NEXT on Nettle">BOOKMARK US NEXT