"Scattered fires" ravage the meadow "around the camp but also inside" the Moria migrant camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, describe the firefighters mobilized on the spot Wednesday 9 September.

The camp "burned to 99% and the fire continues", warned the president of the Lesbos firefighters union, questioned Wednesday morning, Yorgos Ntinos.

Everything burned down, #Moria camp burned down.

The 13,000 refugees, women, children and vulnerable people are on the streets.

It's a real hell .. pic.twitter.com/VEqdng3VkW

- Mortaza (@MortazaBehboudi) September 9, 2020

For the moment, 25 firefighters and 10 vehicles are mobilized to evacuate the camp which currently houses nearly 12,700 asylum seekers, four times its capacity.

No victim is to be deplored, assure, for the moment, the soldiers of the fire.

"Only a few minor injuries with respiratory problems due to the smoke", they specify.

Almost 500 asylum seekers fled the camp on foot towards the port of Mytilene, but were blocked by law enforcement vehicles.

Others took shelter in the hills surrounding the camp.

"The island of Lesbos has been declared in a state of emergency," Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on state broadcaster ERT.

A government meeting, with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff, is to be held Wednesday morning "to examine the situation in Moria and the measures that will be taken".     

"The fire is spreading rapidly"

According to the local news site LesvosPost, more than 3,000 tents, thousands of containers, administration offices and a clinic within the camp were burnt.

Stand by Me Lesvos, an association bringing together locals and refugees, is alarmed on Twitter: "Everything is burning, people are fleeing".

"Some testimonies report that locals are blocking the passage [of refugees] into the neighboring village," the association also adds.

People escaping out of #Moria.


We pray that these people will have had enough trauma for tonight as we simultaneously are getting reports of some locals attacking and blocking people's passage into the nearby village.

https://t.co/CvtHGQ2zMt |

#StandingTogetherForLesvos pic.twitter.com/ADoOMw2wcu

- Stand by Me Lesvos (@standbymelesvos) September 8, 2020

"For several hours, large fires have surrounded the reception center. The outbreaks have multiplied […] and with the force of the wind [7-8 on the Beaufort scale], the fire is spreading rapidly", comments on his Facebook page the association of the inhabitants of Moria and other surrounding villages.

"The area is paying the price for indifference and abandonment," continues the residents' association, which calls on the authorities to act quickly to find a solution for asylum seekers who will be homeless after the fire.

35 cases of Covid-19

According to the Greek news agency ANA, the fires would have been started following the revolt of some asylum seekers who were to be placed in isolation, having tested positive for the coronavirus or close to a person who had tested positive.

❌ There are now 35 cases of the coronavirus in the #Moria camp.

These positive cases and their contacts, more than 100 people in total were isolated in part of the camp.

@ARTEInfo #LeaveNoOneBehind https://t.co/QPUMgDfyWQ

- Mortaza (@MortazaBehboudi) September 8, 2020

The firefighters also report in their statement to have "been prevented from entering the camp to intervene" by certain groups of refugees upon their arrival in the camp, and to have called on the police to be able to continue the rescue operation .

Last week, authorities detected a first case of coronavirus in Moria camp and quarantined the camp for two weeks.

After carrying out 2,000 screening tests, 35 people were detected positive for Covid-19 in Moria.

"Only one person presented symptoms, the thirty-four others are asymptoptic", assured the statement of the Greek Ministry of Migration.

"The thirty-five people positive for the coronavirus were transported to a space provided for their isolation", also specified the ministry.

With the fire, "everyone has dispersed and the positive cases have mingled with others now", worries a police source in Lesbos on Wednesday morning.

Strict traffic measures have been imposed in migrant camps since mid-March.

The government has never lifted these restrictions despite criticism from human rights NGOs deeming the measures "discriminatory", when the decision was taken to deconfin the country in early May.

Lack of hygiene and overcrowding

These NGOs denounce the confinement of asylum seekers in these structures which are not adapted to put in place the necessary barrier measures.

The Moria camp has in recent years been repeatedly criticized for its lack of hygiene and its overcrowding by NGOs who regularly call on the Greek authorities to transfer the most vulnerable asylum seekers to the mainland.

Riots and fights have become almost daily in the Moria camp.

From January to the end of August, five people were stabbed in more than fifteen attacks.

In March 2020, a girl was killed in a burnt container.

In September 2019, two people also died in a fire.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR