Lawsuit for the Eye: “I thought it was burning wood, it was my parents”

“They let us burn” testified at the trial for the tragedy in Mati, where the people who lost their loved ones in a few minutes in the most horrible way come to the stage to tell their own story. “It was a day when the state looked at the tree in Kineta and the forest of souls in Mati was lost” said a woman whose father was found charred in the most horrible place of hell that Eastern Attica experienced: in the Fragou estate. His relatives testified in court Dimitris Tournavitis who met a tragic death together with his wife, an actress, Chrysa Spiliotis.

Mr. Konstantinos Tournavitis testified that he believed that his brother could have been saved because “he was a keen swimmer”, but: “At dawn, I arrived at the Fragos estate. I saw my brother’s house, completely burnt. I spotted my brother’s vehicle on the property. We were not allowed in at that time. There were paramedics and police. The next day I spoke with Mr. Fragou and his mother. His mother told me verbatim: “the fire was coming from two sides and falling from the sky.” There I also found my brother’s dog. His fur was unburned and he was mummified. This is what a witness who put my brother in the sack told me.”

The victim’s daughter told the judges that July 23, 2018 “was a day when the state looked at the tree in Kineta and the forest of souls in Mati was lost. I could not reach Mati because of the fire in Kineta. We first heard about Dow and started to worry about our relatives. By 7pm, their phones were not working. They were very close to reaching the sea. We reported them missing. I didn’t think something like this could happen, my father was an athlete. I started looking for hospitals. Until we gave dna and it was confirmed. I later learned that they were found on the estate. There was no coordination, no one told them anything. It’s unthinkable what happened.”

Stelios and Marika Masha lost their parents. Mrs. Marika Masha said, among other things: “I called the fire department, no one answered. I arrived at 10 pm in Rafina. The whole Eye was burning, I could only see blackness and smoke. I returned to Marathon Avenue and stayed until 12. At 3 in the morning my brother entered Mati and saw what he saw: two burning corpses. There was no notification. In Kineta they took them out, they went door to door. Not even a bell rang in Mati. They left them and were burned alive».

Crying, Stelios Mashas described: “We had the hope that somehow they succeeded. We arrived with flashlights, it was pitch black. There were no houses, they were leveled. It was a mess. I didn’t see a car, I say they left. I couldn’t imagine what happened. They finally picked me up around 5 and told me they found them. I went and saw what I saw and thought it was burning wood. They were my parents. I called the police and told them I found them.”

Mrs. Despina Zafiriou, who was trapped together with her husband Stratos, in Mati as the fire found them while they were in their car trying to leave the area, took to the witness stand. The woman described how they came to a standstill and when she tried to pull out her husband, who was at the wheel, she couldn’t:My husband is clinging to the steering wheel. I got him in my hands, I grabbed him by the belt. I knelt down and pulled him away. He could not step, nor turn. He was burnt. He could not move his arms or legs. No ambulance came, no plane came over, and we were not notified that there was a fire. Then, at 11 o’clock at night, a friend heard my voice and shouts “don’t move, I’m coming”. Where should I move, the fire was burning. They let us burn. There was nothing. The branches had not been cleaned, we repeatedly called out to the Municipality…”. The wife, son and daughter of Dimitrios Julia testified in court about the events that led to the loss of their loved one.

Angeliki Tzulia-Dimitropoulou described how they were at home with the deceased and their daughter. She along with her daughter, grandson and a friendly family managed to escape in time because they were warned by some citizens. “My husband stayed behind. He got out of his car to escape the fire. By the time he reached a house, it was burned. Unfortunately, he died in the hospital. I saw him the other day when he was intubated and burned.”

Prosecutor: Up to the time you left, was there any announcement of the fire from any authority?

Witness: No. Absolutely none.

Prosecutor: If there were no citizens to tell you about the fire, would you have left or would you have stayed?

Witness: We would stay, we would burn.

The victim’s son, Grigoris Julias, described what his father told him before he succumbed. “He told me that no one informed him. He saw the fire and tried to run away. He went a little further down and was burned by the heat wave. He had no information, he did not see any aerial vehicles… A patrol car always passed by, a siren sounded, and he gave information,” the witness emphasized.

His son and daughter Leonidas Plymaki testified that their father followed the instructions of the Police which turned out to be fatal. “They were sent there and burned.” As Iosif and Evangelia Plymaki testified, their father died because he had forgotten the keys to his holiday home in Nea Makri and returned to the area to get them. Finally he found himself in Kokkino Limanaki “with which we had nothing to do. If they had turned the world back, there wouldn’t be so many dead. My father was there because he heard the Greek police,” said Mrs. Plymaki.

The trial will continue on Thursday, December 15.

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