Trial for the Eye: “I let my mother burn to save my wife and child” – Witnesses testify to the non-existence of the state

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Other witnesses testifying since the morning about what happened on the afternoon of July 23, 2018 in Eastern Attica mentioned the complete non-existence of the state and chaotic situations.

A sobbing witness in the trial of the tragedy in Mati described in court today that he was forced to let his mother burn to save his wife and child.

Other witnesses testifying since the morning about what happened on the afternoon of July 23, 2018 in Eastern Attica mentioned the complete non-existence of the state and chaotic situations.

“Do whatever you think” was the answer that citizens received when they called the Fire Service, while the fire was threatening to reach Mati, according to what Mr. Orestis Jintzas testified. The witness was on vacation in Paros when the fire engulfed the settlement of Neo Voutza where his mother was vacationing. The next morning when he arrived in Athens, he learned that his mother had been burned to death along with a neighbor of hers.

Mr. Thanasis Moraitis testified that in his attempt to save his 92-year-old mother, he himself caught fire in the back and was forced to let it burn in order to run to find his wife and child who just a few minutes ago had told them to leave.

Amidst sobbing, which he could not stop, the witness testified about the shocking moment he made the decision to leave his mother and what happened on the day he will never forget:

“We have experienced many fires in the area. I didn’t see any fire engines anywhere, like they used to have. …At some point we heard from the locals about a fire near us. We saw her in Kalitechnoupoli, she was quite small. We thought based on past experiences that the Fire Department would do something. In other words the situation seemed at first to be under control. Unfortunately, at 5:50 pm it took on dimensions. After a while a firefighting plane came by and made a drop or two and left. We saw no fire engine, no siren to alert us that the fire was spreading. When the fire passed Marathon, it reached our house in 1.5 minutes.

We had loaded the car to leave. Unfortunately, in the panic, the car keys were lost and the electricity had been cut… We got into the car. But I couldn’t find the keys and I told my wife and the child to leave and that I would stay behind to save mother my, it was 92 years old. I was trying to get her out of the car and while my back was starting to burn. When I realized I couldn’t get her out, I thought I had a family. I let my mother burn to save my family. This is a situation that no one should live in…

I caught up with my folks on the side of the road and we ran to the beach. In Poseidonos we saw the first fire brigade but where it was it could not do anything. We arrived at the beach and we entered the water. It started raining fire. This lasted half an hour. There was terribly thick smoke and we were trying to wash our mouths and nostrils in the sea. We stayed like that for three hours. When the boats picked us up it was 9 in the evening. They loaded our boats and we were all at the beginning of hypothermia. They took us out to Rafina. There wasn’t even an ambulance there.”

Angry, the witness emphasized that the claims of officials of the then government that they did not know about the dead were lies. “I have now lost my trust in the institution of the Greek state. We live in a state that does not care about us, that values ​​human life at 10,000 euros. It puts people in positions of responsibility who cannot do their jobs. None of us deserved to go through this,” he noted.

In his own description, Mr. Orestis Jintzas he said that he was informed by his neighbor’s wife in Neo Vuzja that he did not exist no updates of citizens to evacuate and how they had called the Fire Department and the answer they got was: “Do whatever you think”.

According to the witness, all the residents of the area said that while the fire was alive, they only saw a helicopter drop. His mother and her neighbor got into the car to leave. The next day and while his mother and the car driver were missing all night, the witness arrived in the area. “About 600 meters from the house, I saw the car on the side of the road. We were told that two bodies were found, one in the driver’s seat and one in the passenger seat. I was notified that my mother and Mr. Vassilis, our neighbor, are missing. I came back the next morning, thinking my mother was missing…. I gave a dna sample and the identification was done. It was a tragedy that could have been avoided, there was time to react,” he pointed out.

Another witness who lost his mother, Mr. Dimitris Siaperastestified that at the same time that a relative had spoken to him about the death of the woman, the official position of the government was that “there are no dead”.

The witness, who spoke of “complete incoherence”, underlined that when he found the mother of “it was not charred. I found her altered. The fire had gone so quickly… I went to the fire department for help. No response. My cousin had spoken live on the Ant1 bulletin and said: “We found my aunt charred and this at the time when they said there were no dead. I want to mention this for the record.”

The witness’s sister, Mrs. Constantina Schiapera, testified: “My brother found her at my uncle’s house… My mother was not burned, she had passed the heat wave and thus died. Cause of death was “thermal burns”. I asked my father why they didn’t leave. Told me that they were not notified, that there was no one. That he was asking for help and there was no one. No plan. So many people left unjustly. In Kineta, which was my aunt, they had received an evacuation order, I don’t understand why such a different information.”

The trial continues with the testimony of other witnesses.

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