An estimated 13,000 migrants have reportedly been left homeless following a fire outbreak at Europe’s largest refugee camp.
Aid workers at the burnt camp say the migrants urgently require emergency shelter and aid.
The refugee camp was situated on the Greek island of Lesbos.
The camp’s overcrowded and unsanitary conditions had provoked global outrage since its inception in 2015.
“At this moment the reception centre has been completely destroyed,” Greece’s alternate migration minister, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, briefed reporters.
The Minister says it was miraculous there had been no deaths or injuries,” saying “As a result, thousands of people are homeless.”
According to the minister,
the situation was an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis”, adding that the coronavirus pandemic had created “exceptionally demanding” circumstances on the island, long at the forefront of refugees fleeing war-stricken homelands for the west.
Eyewitnesses reported terrified and traumatised residents fleeing the hilltop facility through thick, acrid smoke laced with the stench of burning plastic.
Reports say some three dozen people living in the camp had been diagnosed with Covid-19 before the fire erupted. Local islanders’ fears that the virus could spread were exacerbated when authorities admitted that by late afternoon on Wednesday they had only managed to locate eight of them.
By Melvin Tarlue