By Ioanna Mandrou

Appeal against the only, for now, decision by which the administrative justice awarded compensation to srelatives of victims from the deadly fire in Mati the State brought, causing a second judicial review by the Court of Appeal.

The appeal filed a few days ago is based on grounds which evoke a sense of tragedy which is unprecedented in peacetime Greek annals.
According to information, the appeal filed by the public is based on six reasons, legal and factual, among which, that the fatal fire was a “force majeure incident”, that is, that it was impossible to deal with.

In particular, in the public appeal, it is stated that the court that awarded the compensation should have ordered an expert opinion to clarify certain issueswhile he invokes “a sudden change in the weather”, “the rarity and specificity of such a rapid increase in the intensity of the winds at a local level” and goes as far as to claim that “there was an objective impossibility of flying the aerial vehicles during the afternoon hours of the accident due to weather conditions ».

At the same time, the appeal states that the lack of recommendation from the Fire Department to evacuate the area did not lead to the fatal result with the death toll, while the claim is also made that “extreme care” measures were taken and that “the fire service did not remain inactive in the performance of her duties, but instead immediately mobilized all available power to deal with the fire. Nevertheless, given the huge number of simultaneous fire outbreaks that occurred in various places in the disputed area and due to the speed of air and ground transportation of hot people, it was not possible to objectively deal with all the incidents…”.

It is also stated in the public appeal that the 112 system had not been implemented at the time, that the roads in and around the settlements were labyrinthine, unpaved and dead-end, and that the fire was spreading at great speed and the winds were blowing at 10 or 11 Beaufort.

The decision

The decision that caused the public appeal concerns a compensation of 300 thousand euros that was awarded to five relatives of a 77-year-old woman who lost her life in the deadly fire. The decision bears number 17030 of 2022, while dozens of such lawsuits for compensation claims are pending in the administrative courts.
According to the decision that vindicated the relatives of the 77-year-old woman who lost her life, the responsibilities of the municipality due to the omissions of the competent bodies are judged immediately, while it is noted that the responsibility of the Fire Department not to recommend the evacuation of the area to the competent bodies of the municipality and the region is a given .
At the same time, he rejected the state’s claim in the trial, which has caused a sensation, that the victim herself was responsible for her tragic death, as it was noted in the state’s petition that “due to the action of the deceased herself to leave voluntarily, on foot , from her house, which, in the end, remained unscathed by the fire, so if she had remained there, she would have been safe”(!)

New Prosecutor’s investigation

At the same time, a new prosecutor’s investigation into the case of the fatal fire in Mati is underway, as the prosecutor of the seat of the Three-Member Criminal Court of Athens, Panagiotis Maniatis, sent the First Instance Prosecutor’s Office a list of burn victims who had not testified to the judicial authorities and appeared in court. A preliminary examination was immediately ordered and according to information the burn victims have begun to be called to testify. After the completion of the depositions, the summoning of the “suspects” and the assignment of criminal responsibilities by the prosecution authorities will follow.