Athens prosecutors have laid charges, including for manslaughter, against local politicians and fire chiefs over last summer's wildfire at a coastal resort that killed 100 people, a legal source said Tuesday.
The July 23 fire, which devastated the Mediterranean resort of Mati, led to a string of resignations or sackings of fire and police chiefs -- as well as the resignation of the minister responsible for state security.
Prosecutors have charged 16 people, including the governor of Attica region and the mayors of Marathonas and Rafina, two other towns hit by the disaster, according to an investigators' report obtained by the legal source.
Senior officials in civil protection, the fire service and the port police are also being charged -- as well as a 65-year-old man accused of having caused the fire.
Most of those who died were trapped in traffic jams as they tried to flee the blaze, while others drowned as they tried to escape into the sea. Children and at least one baby were among the victims.
In the wake of the disaster, the emergency services were heavily criticised for their lack of preparedness. The government meanwhile, criticised years of illegal construction in the surrounding pine forests.
An experts' report into the disaster commissioned by the government and released last month said Greece was "excessively" dependent on aerial fire-fighting and suffered from poor inter-agency coordination.
Athens prosecutors have laid charges, including for manslaughter, against local politicians and fire chiefs over last summer’s wildfire at a coastal resort that killed 100 people, a legal source said Tuesday.
The July 23 fire, which devastated the Mediterranean resort of Mati, led to a string of resignations or sackings of fire and police chiefs — as well as the resignation of the minister responsible for state security.
Prosecutors have charged 16 people, including the governor of Attica region and the mayors of Marathonas and Rafina, two other towns hit by the disaster, according to an investigators’ report obtained by the legal source.
Senior officials in civil protection, the fire service and the port police are also being charged — as well as a 65-year-old man accused of having caused the fire.
Most of those who died were trapped in traffic jams as they tried to flee the blaze, while others drowned as they tried to escape into the sea. Children and at least one baby were among the victims.
In the wake of the disaster, the emergency services were heavily criticised for their lack of preparedness. The government meanwhile, criticised years of illegal construction in the surrounding pine forests.
An experts’ report into the disaster commissioned by the government and released last month said Greece was “excessively” dependent on aerial fire-fighting and suffered from poor inter-agency coordination.
