“It is terrible and vulgar to have the state attack people who have lost their families and all their property,” she angrily declared at the trial in the case Eye the woman in whose estate 26 people burned down referred to what was said “about violators” the day after the July 2018 tragedy.

The owner of the so-called “terrible estate” Anastasia-Christiana Fragu gave her answer to what she heard after hundreds of people died from a fire in East Attica.

“Across Greece, at a ministerial meeting the day after the fire, we were blamed for the deaths of 26 people who were found burnt on our territory. We were accused of intrusion. The state holds all citizens hostage to a false contract. My home is not arbitrary and neither I nor my family have invaded it. On our site there are no steps to the sea in the classical sense. These are steps carved (hewn) by my grandfather in the rocks. It’s impassable, it’s a rock. From there, the saved, 40 people, were saved. Unfortunately, 26 people did not make it in time, because they were overtaken by the heat,” Ms. Fragou said.

The accused witness concluded: “This story that the residents are allegedly to blame is not true. It’s not the fault of the houses, there were passages. There was no notice from anyone. We were on fire like mice. It is pitiful and vulgar to have the state attack people who have lost their families and all their property.”

“There was no update”

Today, people who escaped with severe burns and people who mourn the losses testified in court.

Antonis Giannakodymos, who lost his father in the fire, angrily testified that on that day “we experienced absolute fear, impoverishment, humiliation, abandonment by everyone.” He added that “on a well-known TV channel at 12.00 at night they said that we probably have a dead person.” Quicker! It marked me.”

As the witness mentioned, in the past the residents of Mati were twice warned to leave their houses during fires. However, then, five years ago, “there was no information.”

“At six o’clock I saw smoke, black, in the southwest. I go out for a marathon and burn at 50 meters. In a state of panic, I return home, informing my parents that there is a fire and it is time for us to leave. I get into the car with my family, and my father is in the back of the car. I go down to the sea in a state of panic. The father tries to get into the car from behind. Unfortunately, the tree falls and blocks the road vertically between my car and my father’s car. I saw the back of his car catch fire, I saw him go to the marathon. There was no choice, I drove straight and must have got into the second or third car in the port of Mati, at 6:30. We stayed at the port until midnight,” said Mr. Giannakodymos.

“We are so close to Athens, they can’t help but come to save us”

Sumela Hajilazaridu testified in court, crying that she had been at sea for six hours.

“There was no one with me. I was completely alone. I was told that it was 10-12 points on the Beaufort scale. I began to swim in rough seas. Everything was black, I could not see anything and there was absolute silence. Imagine a man 65 years old in a raging sea, nothing is visible and in absolute silence. Hours passed. I turned to Panagia and said: “If you want me to die, die, otherwise show me the signs. ” In less than five minutes, and I hear the voices of people calling for help, 11-11:30, I don’t know exactly what time it was. There were six people. I didn’t know any of them. One girl asked her mother if we were going to die too, since she had previously lost her brother and one of their friends. Another girl had a panic attack and I picked her up and dragged her. I didn’t find her. At some point, something like a tree flew over me, so I thought. They were corpses. We began to catch colds and convulsions “I was the most optimistic because I said that we are so close to Athens! They can’t help but come to our aid. But nothing, no one … As if no one notified us of the departure.

The witness described the moment when the boat finally approached them. “Not the Coast Guard I called. Fishing boat, gris-gris from Evia. We sailed and arrived. They threw ropes at us. Suddenly other people appeared. The woman who was about to get up was stopped. Then I got scared and told them that I couldn’t get up and they told me that the boat would come. We boarded a fishing boat. There was a family there, the girl, who suffered from resistance, was removed.”

As Ms. Hadjilazaridou noted, “We have reached the point where Egyptian fishermen have become our rescuers. They treated us with exceptional hospitality, treated us to waffles, of course, no one ate, they called.

In a firm voice, the woman emphasized: “We did not have roads, passages, stairs. It’s because no one came! True, we often had fires, but we had patrol groups, once they even brought an army. Now no one has notified anyone. If they brought a duduk and a tricycle, the whole world would hear it and leave. We left, the rest were sleeping, they said that it would never get infected here.”

“Screams of pain in my ears for five years”

Burn victim Dimitra Polimeropoulou, who was in the hospital for three months, testified that she was rescued by a neighbor who took her with her son and grandchildren in her car and drove her to the beach.

“When we are getting ready, I suddenly see my grandson around 6:30 and he says to me: “Grandma is sparkling.” We didn’t have time to do anything, everything happened very quickly. It was a darkness, a mess, I lost it. The treatment was tragic,” he said.

Her son, a witness, Giorgos Polimeropoulos, holding his head and unable to stop crying, said: “When we left the house, a wave of heat fell on us, which covered everything that was burning. He found us from the back. We couldn’t breathe.”

“I realized that everything was hard and we would not be able to walk. We couldn’t go straight. I was about to hug my children and then I saw a neighbor. I begged her to drop us off at the beach. We went down to the sea … There we realized that my mother was burned in many places and was not well. My mom had three surgeries and when she was able to leave the hospital, she was a different person.”

Ms Polimeropoulou’s daughter told the court that “the fight against burns is terrible.” As Aikaterini Polymeropoulou testified, “Their cries of pain were unimaginable. The screams of pain have been in my ears for five years now. I would also like to help with my testimony so that not only those who left, but also those who remain, who struggle with their wounds, are justified.

Source: RES-IPE