The shocking stories of people who escaped from a fire in Eye Having brutally lost loved ones, today the Criminal Procedure Court, consisting of three people, heard a trial in the case of a tragedy with 103 dead.

Evidence like that of Eleni Papastoulou, who was found four hours at sea with her mother and father a priest, whose body – as it did not survive the rough seas – she carried with her, tied with a sarso, “so that it would not be lost.” Or like Maria Cecu, who lost her husband and father of two when he “left behind” trying to help her neighbor with mobility problems.

Ms Papastulou said she and her parents were at sea for four hours, where they fled when they were trapped by an unimaginable traffic jam in Mati. The witness did not fail at the beginning of her testimony to “give her answer” to those who, in the midst of a terrible tragedy, declared that the people who came under fire “were violators.” As he said: “I heard that we are violators. For me it is important, as if we are insulted. We close the century in Mati. My great-grandfather bought a plot of land there under contracts. Everything is legal.”

In her testimony, the witness described scenes that left no one indifferent in the hall: “We were in power. We did not part, we managed and stayed there all three. My parents prayed. We have sat for about an hour since we entered the water, struggling. I saw my father throw up. He raised his hands and asked God for forgiveness… he understood. He snorted and then exhaled. I made a move to close his eyes. I turn it upside down. He was wearing a cassock. I tie my mom up and tell her to hold on to me, we were going against the waves. How did he find strength? He told me: “Come on.” We didn’t let him… There was no help. We swam. Mom on one side, me on the other and dad in the middle. “Mom, I’m dead,” a child next to us said of my father. My mother said: “My child, leave us, let me go with your father.” It was getting cold. I told her, “If I leave you, I will drown.” At some point we saw the lights of Rafina… We approached the boat. May these people be healthy! Thus, some were saved. “Agia Anna”, the boat saved us. Experienced fishermen, these guys caught people from the sea. They picked up my father and gave him first aid. The mother spattered, she had convulsions. They brought us blankets and water. We arrived at the port of Rafina, they took us by name, wrapped my father in a blanket. The Egyptian said his prayer, honored the dead. But there was no one to take it. He could not be picked up, the captain wanted to leave, others were in danger. At some point, a rural one came … I don’t know the state in which it was … I could not say goodbye to my father, tell him what I want, caress him. They kept him for five or six hours, the funeral directors held an auction. Not in the fridge, not in the bag. We’ve been waiting all week to be told. Sometimes he was taken to Schistos and then to Gaudí. Did they also take the bodies out of the refrigerator? “Give him to us so that we can bury him,” they told them. We were told that ID was required. But we delivered it. My brother gave me the DNA.”

The witness stressed: “Nothing was working that day. Everyone who had coordination did not do their job properly. I have placed all my hopes in your judgment.”

Victoros Cecu’s wife, Maria Cecu, described the loss of her husband, who, after twenty days of hospitalization, died in Evangelism with 85% external and 25% internal burns.

“We decided to leave because of smoking with her husband. Let’s meet in Rafina. Me, our daughter and husband followed us. On the way we called him, but he did not answer. We learned that he was taken to Evangelism. He had 85% external burns and 25% internal burns. We are going. What can I tell you now? He was burned. We learned from a neighbor that she helped our disabled neighbor and his wife. He was hospitalized for twenty days. I can’t forget this day as long as I’m alive,” the witness said.

The victim’s children, Chrysanti and Giorgos, stressed in their statements that they still cannot understand why the world was allowed to burn. “What worries me is that on the same day, at the same time and under the same conditions as in Kinetta, they worked so well. The situation was really very difficult with the wind. But in the area near Athens, did anyone pass by to report? said G. Chekhos.

Emmanuel Patelaros testified about the loss of his mother, saying that it was two streets away from her house, which she left in an attempt to escape. “At 5:00 I picked up my mother, and she tells me, full of anxiety, that “she has a lot of smoke and I don’t know what to do.” I told her to go down. At 6:00 I called again, he did not answer. I remember asking her if she heard anything, sirens, police cars. No, he answered me. We were looking for her. We gave DNA, and he was identified. Her body was found burnt two streets away.”

And Cassiani Polito lost her mother in the fire: “My parents did not know that they were alone that day. And that made things worse for them. Around 4:50 they called my sister asking for help. He told them to leave. My mother didn’t have time. My 87-year-old father got into the car and it caught fire. He walked a kilometer alone through the fires. He didn’t see any firemen. He remained at sea for a long time. A few hours later he was found in Sismanoglio. I found out at 11:00 pm. At 19.00 I found out that my mother was missing. I don’t understand how it all happened.” One of the defendants told a witness, “I caught your father, let me tell you what happened.” The wife replied that she did not want to discuss it.

Ilona Sarieva also described the loss of her mother: “She went to Kokkino Limanaki to swim. He didn’t live there. Her friend had a cottage there. He took the car to leave, but he couldn’t. He left it. He went to the sea. A neighbor told me that “they let us burn like mice.”

Mihail Scaramagas lost both his parents in the fire, and in his testimony he also particularly insistently touched on the issue of “violators”, stating that his house was not located in any stream or in any alley:

“I ended up in a war. I lost my parents, my dog, my house and the whole neighborhood was destroyed. And I have a feeling that maybe I’m to blame too. Our house was not on some stream, in an alley. My parents were citizens there. I grew up there. It wasn’t their fault. Even the last tile my father called an engineer and declared it to be a decent citizen,” he said.

The witness said that he saw a piece of cloth on the woman’s body that was not burned: “My mother had something similar, I thought. They hid a lot from us. I found out that they were extinguished with a fire extinguisher, and when they removed them … They were bones. My father was 2 meters tall, and the bag they put him in was small, the other one was empty… What kind of funeral should I do? My brother and I were. I’m still unwell.”

Source: RES