Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Thousands of Refugees in Greece Displaced by Fire

VOA News

   Fire destroyed much of Greece's largest refugee camp early Wednesday,
   displacing thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers amid a camp-wide
   outbreak of COVID-19.

   The Moria Reception and Identification Center on the island of Lesbos
   was 80% destroyed in the blaze, [1]according to the International
   Organization for Migration (IOM).

   Online video showed snapping flames engulfing the camp's wood and metal
   structures, lit orange in the darkness, as white-hot embers floated
   past.

     Hell on earth at [2]#Moria camp on [3]#Lesvos [4]#Greece. A fire
     started late last night, now believed to have burned most of the
     camp that houses 12,000 people (4x its capacity). Doesn't come as a
     surprise I'm afraid. [5]#lesbos [6]#migrants [7]#refugeesgr
     [8]pic.twitter.com/xFifUquvwn
     -- נ÷נננננ נ÷ננננננננ (@KallergisK) [9]September 9, 2020

   Many of Moria's 12,600 migrants were displaced. More than 4,000
   children, including 407 unaccompanied children, had been living in the
   camp. Moria was built to accommodate 3,000 people, but its migrant
   population has swelled to over 20,000 in the past.

   No fatalities have been reported. The cause of the blaze has not been
   confirmed, but authorities were investigating whether it was
   purposefully set, potentially in protest of the recent COVID-19
   lockdown.

References

   1. https://www.iom.int/news/iom-mobilizes-emergency-assistance-and-transfer-children-after-fire-moria-camp-lesvos
   2. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Moria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lesvos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Greece?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://twitter.com/hashtag/lesbos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://twitter.com/hashtag/migrants?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   7. https://twitter.com/hashtag/refugeesgr?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   8. https://t.co/xFifUquvwn
   9. https://twitter.com/KallergisK/status/1303520841452445697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

.