Fire sweeps through Greece refugee camp on COVID-19 lockdown

Some 12,500 people were living at the Moria camp and the surrounding area

Last updated: September 09, 2020 | 11:04

Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor with inputs from AP

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Fire swept through Greece's largest refugee camp that had been placed under COVID-19 lockdown, leaving more than 12,000 migrants in emergency need of shelter on the island of Lesbos.

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In dramatic scenes overnight, the migrants at Moria refugee camp fled fires that broke out at multiple points and gutted much of the camp and surrounding hillside olive groves. Protests also broke out involving migrants, riot police, and firefighters.

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Some 12,500 people were living at the Moria camp and the surrounding area, where additional restrictions have been imposed over the past week after a Somali resident tested positive for the coronavirus.

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The fires broke out overnight, police and fire officials on the island told The Associated Press, adding the cause of the blazes, as well as the full extent of the damage, remained unclear.

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They did not confirm local reports that the fires had been set deliberately in protest at the lockdown measures but said firefighters had "met resistance"' from some camp residents.

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A migrant speaks on the phone as a fire burns at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants, on the island of Lesbos.

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Refugees and migrants flee from a fire burning at the Moria camp.

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Refugees and migrants sit as fire burns at the Moria refugee camp.

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A migrant walks among destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos.

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A woman and a girl cover their faces following a fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos.

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A migrant carries her belongings following a fire at the Moria camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos.

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Refugees and migrants with their children gather on a bridge as fire burns at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece.

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