Trial for the Eye: “Our son first fainted and then burned. That he did not suffer is a consolation…”

The testimonies of those who lost their loved ones in the flames that surrounded the Eye disturb even the most calm person. They are the stories of loss, pain and sorrow for what did not happen on the afternoon of July 23, 2018, for the images of “disaster tape”, the desperate efforts to save and save others, for the moments that, exhausted, burned, they were forced to leave behind people lost in absolute hell.

Today’s deposits opened Panagiota Malainou who lost her 73-year-old mother who lived in Mati with her niece witness. The elderly woman was found on the Silver Coast. “They entered the water to save themselves. Burning objects fell on their bodies and heads. A wave came like a broom and pulled them in. He collected a private boat for them. Irene, half dead. Child psychiatrists have been examining her since then,” said the witness who continued: “I went to the Port Authority to ask about her my mother. They told me she was dead, they found her ID in her purse. I searched all night in the burned area, in that plot where they found the 26. I spent about 8-9 hours looking for her. I couldn’t recognize her. It was inflated by the hot gases. I went twice for recognition.”

About her niece, the witness said: “I don’t know how to convey her pain to you. It was four hours in the sea. He asks “why did they leave us?”. Every year I take the captain who saved her to his feast to wish. He saved Irene, brought her alive…The child has been speechless since that day, a brilliant creature cannot finish school. I don’t know what to tell you… What to tell you about that night…’.

Evangelos Kostopoulos lost his mother in Kokkino Limanaki while his father suffered extensive burns but he managed to keep himself alive. “My father lived in Kokkino Limanaki. We talked on the phone and I asked them to leave. He replied that he sees a helicopter flying and said: “Don’t worry, they will stop it like every summer”. At some point, my sister took me and said: “Run, our parents are on fire,” testified the witness, who said that he went to the area on his motorcycle despite the prohibitions of the Police.

“In Kokkino Limanaki I saw the first burnt one, in a campsite. Another was looking at him and stood still unable to understand what he was seeing. It was a coal. The scenery was terrifying. You couldn’t figure out where your home is. Such images not even in a movie. I was boned too. The house next door to ours had 20 meters of flames. The other houses did not exist. I ran from behind our house. Where I knew my mother was sitting. She was down…she was dead. He was burned by the heat wave, he was mummified… My father was shouting from inside the house… the kitchen was on fire. I managed to get into the house, it was very smoky. My father was lying down. Burnt in hands and feet. The only car that hadn’t burned was ours. It looked like it had been hit by hail. I took him on the back, put him inside and we started… We went to Rafina. It was in very bad shape. First we went to “Salvation” and then to “Evangelism”. There they immediately intubated him. Hands, feet and face were burnt. We are trying to recover from that day…”

Regarding the loss of his son, he testified Evangelos Hamilothoris. “My son they were working and he went to school at 6. We talked and he told me: “they messed with us with the fire”. At that moment there was a noise and our communication was cut off. After that we had no contact… My wife and I were searching. Relatives told us that they were bringing survivors to Nea Makri and Rafina. We went to Nea Makri and they informed us that “they don’t bring survivors here, only to Rafina”. We went to Rafina, there was no news. This lasted until morning. We were then told that the last ship with survivors had arrived. From there our Calvary began. As I understood, the body had been found but we were not told. The next day we were notified to receive my child’s body. The coroner and the medical examiner told us that my son did not suffer. First he passed out from the smoke and then he was burned. It was a kind of consolation for us. My son was trapped on the road of death and many perished there. He had probably heard that the fire is going to Agios Petros and decided to go from Marathon. They were leading them towards this road…”

After the death of their son, as the witness said, his wife began to be unwell: “She was a healthy woman but from that day she was not well. He had a heart attack. I lost her”.

He testified his own story Panagiotis Manetas, a burn victim, who lost his wife who was bedridden with multiple sclerosis. The witness said that he was staying with a friend of theirs in N. Voutza and that on that day he had arranged to take his wife to an Institution as it was very difficult to take care of her. When the fire started to become threatening, the witness said that “the owner of the house that hosted us told us to leave. How to leave? She also had a problem with her legs. I went outside and saw a gentleman with a hose trying. I saw two fire trucks coming down. And a Police patrol car, from which no one got down to say anything to me. They just motioned for me to leave as if they were greeting me.

I went home. The fire had reached 20 to 30 meters from the house. I put my wife in the cart and helped Mrs. Vassiliki as well. We went 30 meters. A private man came with a van and told us to help us. Let’s put my wife in the cart. How to lift a person 100 kg and 1.80 height; The fire was near. I say to Mrs. Vasiliki “you go away”. My whole body started burning. I was thinking of saving my wife. I kept my cool. I don’t know where I found the courage. I pulled her by the hands and took her to a house that had a gap and kept her there. I prayed and God heard me. He brought me two angels. Two new kids. They were off-duty police officers who came and found us. They saved us. And they saved 20 to 30 people. I don’t remember their names. They also took out others from a house next door. Unfortunately, they couldn’t lift my wife and put her in the car. A fire department came and took her away. He lived four days and died…”

Hector Diamantidis lost his mother in the flames. “Someone deprived her of the opportunity to meet her granddaughter. My mother was at sea that day and I was working in Maroussi. When I saw that the fire was going towards Kallitechnoupoli, I started calling my mother and she didn’t answer. Around 6:40 I found her. I realized that nothing is wrong. I could hear screaming from inside. “Now I’m running to save myself, I’m burning” he told me. I didn’t manage to contact either the Fire Department or the Police… Around 9 in the evening I managed to find my stepfather. With a trembling voice he told me to be strong and that my mother has died inside home… I had a panic attack, I was asking him to give her to me so I could talk to her.”

As the witness said, the next morning the EMAK went to the house. “Watching your mother go out in a stretcher on an orange bag is not the most pleasant thing. No ambulance came to pick her up. We went in Goudi. The situation there was nightmarish. Parents and people were screaming. Then they told us to go to Schistos. They played ball with us. There I will never forget a mother frantically looking for her children. There were 11 children who died… When after a week I went to pick up my mother, we were told not to see her because she was decomposing because she was out of the fridge. The insult to the dead continued…”

The stepfather of Mr. Diamantidis, Georgios Kairis, husband of the deceased woman, sobbing he testified about the “love of his life” who perished in the flames. He described how he and his wife decided to leave. “Tanya asked me to come inside the house to get her things… Jewellery, money and papers. I took the car out and entered the house, I could not see her. Everything was on fire… I was shouting “Tanya, Tanya”. There was no water, it was cut off… Everything was black… I started looking for help. There was no one. I managed to find a phone and started calling my wife. He told me: “Everything is burning, I don’t know what to do.” I told her “don’t be afraid”, I gave her my word, “I will go up to get you”. How can you go on living when you’ve given your word to the love of your life and you didn’t save him; I don’t know how I exist…

Sometime around 8 one appeared fire brigade van. Crying and screaming I stopped it. “Help me. My wife is alive let’s go get her” I told them. He turned and said to me “I’m here for another job” and got up and left… She remained helpless for an entire hour. Some people (referring to an accused Fire Department official) while we were burning had gone for a walk with their girlfriends and were going for coffee while they knew what happened. In peacetime in Eastern Attica there was a war due to the non-existence of the state and all its infrastructure. After all this I had nowhere to stay. I slept in the car for four days. I went to the Nea Makri Cultural Center to get underwear. The absolute debauchery… And a man was found and two ladies who allowed us to stay in a hotel for free. This is what the state should have done. This shameful state should have thought of giving the graves free of charge so that there would be no exhumations. Do you understand that the exhumations have started?”

As Mr. Kairis said, when the Fire Department collected his wife’s body, he asked to open the bag to say goodbye. “The sound of the zipper pierces my head. And how do you kiss the love of your life for 21 whole years? Her lips were frozen…”.

Showing a bag to the Chair, the witness said: “Do you know what I have left, Madam President? This! It’s what’s left of the love of my life. It’s what he was wearing. Yes, her watch. My property is this bag and nothing else.’

Unable to hide his emotion, the witness wanted to close his testimony by reading a poem about his “Tanya”.

The trial will continue tomorrow.

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.