The Prosecutor of the Greek Supreme Court, Georgia Adeilini, has ordered a probe into the wildfires in Alexandroupolis, Evros and also into suspected racist violence against 25 migrants from Syria and Pakistan who were illegally detained in a car trailer.
For the fifth day, the operations of the Fire Department continue in Evros on two fronts, in Alexandroupolis and the forest of Dadia, where on Tuesday, 18 people were found dead and burned. Fires are also ongoing in other areas of the country, in Aspropyrgos, Rodopi, Fthiotida, Boeotia, as well as in the Parnitha forest mountain range north of Athens.
The 18 dead bodies were found charred near the village of Avantas, in the forest of Dadia. Among them were two children. The coroner of Alexandroupolis, Pavlos Pavlidis, who examined the bodies, told Athens-Macedonia News Agency that the police had told him that the area is a known passageway for illegal migrants. Meanwhile, no local residents were reported missing, reinforcing authorities suspicion that the dead bodies belong to migrants.
“It causes unspeakable sadness that many people were found charred in the forest of Dadia, probably, according to electronic press reports, migrants, usually victims of illegal traffickers,” said Adeilini, who called for a probe into a possible racist violent incident.
A video released Tuesday on Greek social networks meanwhile showed a man opening his car trailer and showing people locked inside there. He disparagingly calls them “pieces”, accuses them of starting the fires in Evros, and calls for a pogrom.
Greek police announced that they had arrested a foreign national and his two Greek associates. They noted that during August, on average, on the Evros, they prevented around 900 illegal entries into Greece per day and arrested hundreds of traffickers, stressing that “Greece is a state of law, with a strong democratic acquis and humanitarian tradition. Self-righteousness is not tolerated in any form”.
The Supreme Court’s investigation into the fire in Alexadroupoli concerns a series of serious offenses, such as the possible formation, membership, and management of a criminal organization, violence and exposure to danger.
The wildfires in Greece from August 19-21 have already burned over 400,000 acres, reported media outlet Kathimerini. Analysis of satellite data of the National Observatory of Athens shows that 380,000 acres in Evros, 30,000 acres in Rhodope, 12,000 acres in Boeotia, 8,000 acres in Kythnos island, and 5,000 acres in Psachna, Evoia island were burned.
Source : BalkanInsight
