Breaking News! A fire has just recently engulfed Greece's very own largest migrant camp! The burning camp is known as the overcrowded Moria facility that is located on the island of Lesbos
Migrants have been proceeded to be evacuated and there were no reports that came in immediately regarding casualties. 25 firefighters along with 10 engines that battled the raging flames. This video uploaded to Twitter shows just how drastic the situation is.
A friend from #Moria camp recorded this now live that big part of the camp is in fire. More than 12 000 vulnerable migrants and refugees are afraid of coronavirus inside and now this big fire. #LeaveNoOneBehind pic.twitter.com/G9qZlpqftl — Mortaza (@MortazaBehboudi) September 8, 2020
The chaotic scene with of fire.
A single eyewitness stated that the main compound, as well as the known makeshift shelters located in a nearby olive grove, were all set ablaze. Moria is a known location housing about 13,000 people, this is more than four times over the original number that it was actually designed to hold.
Although the original cause of the blaze is currently still unclear, a single resident has given a statement to BBC saying that nearly the entire camp has already been on fire. According to a particular Thanasis Voulgarakis, with the light coming up, it is evident that a few tents are able to make it but as with the others in the camp, they are seen to be burnt out.
The camp was previously placed right under quarantine some time a week ago after a certain migrant tested positive from the known coronavirus. Currently, there are already 35 confirmed cases.
The possible situation of the migrants
The Greek news agency known as ANA stated that the fires had actually broken out after a few of the 35 positive individuals had refused to move immediately into isolation along with their own families. This information is still unconfirmed as of the moment.
Reports coming from the scene have reported the chaotic situation saying that the police have actually blocked the migrants trying to flee the raging fire from actually heading towards the nearby port town of Mytilene.
The certain refugee support group known as Stand by Me Lesvos stated that it had heard these reports of certain locals attacking and also preventing these migrants from even passing through the village nearby. This could possibly be due to the fact that 35 of them actually tested positive. Of course, this is only a theory and more information has to be released before coming to this deduction.
The actual scenario
The situation is still very fresh and ongoing and the actual status of the migrants have not yet been determined. More information is expected to come once the fire has died down but with only 25 firefighters on the scene, it might take a while before the massive flames have finally settled down.
The cause of the fire has also yet to be discovered once more information surfaces and a thorough investigation can be conducted within the migrant camp. This news was reported by BBC.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian Buenconsejo
