Josiane, a Belgian survivor of fires in Greece: "I thought it was over, we were all going to die"

International

Rescued from the deadly fires in Greece, 72-year-old Josiane recounts the nightmare that still haunts her

"I thought it was over, we were all going to die. far from my balcony I did not think the fire was going to get here The hotel was filled with water Who could have imagined it? Josiane shakes her head. She bravely smiled at us, who, at the age of 72, spent hours in the sea to escape the flames in the village of Mati.

"It was panic"

To see her, made up and coiffed with care, in white trousers and bright pink tunic, we have trouble imagining the scenes she describes us and she, it is difficult to relive them.

" When the boss Natacha, who is my friend for 27 years, told me to get out of the room to shelter in the water, I realized that the situation was serious.I thought I would not succeed. There were hundreds of people, maybe Greeks, there were families with children, and I was not sure where we were going. I did not see any dead people, but I saw some women with their arms in their arms, and they certainly tried to protect them. Others were throwing themselves into the water with their feet burned. Elderly as well as younger people shouted. It was panic. We all stayed in the sea thinking it was our only way out of life. We were all soot black. It was hard to breathe. "

She speaks slowly but determinedly, she wants to testify, all of a sudden she pauses, as if the images reappear before her:" The flames went beyond the walls of the pregnant of the hotel. Flames so high! Imagine, with a terrible wind and no help on the spot. We did not believe what we saw. Instinctively in the water, we were getting closer to each other . "

More than 5 hours in the water

Another pause: She reflected and then spoke again:" We stayed in the water from ten in the evening until almost three in the morning. We went in and out of the water. The heat was terrible, the eyes were burning. Fortunately, the hotel staff brought us water constantly . "

She remembers howling in the distance:" You could hear people screaming for help on the other beaches, in desperate search for help that did not arrive until midnight ".

At three o'clock in the morning, the owner announces that the danger has pbaded and the fire has ended. Josiane decides to stay near the pool which, even today, three days later, is filled with ashes: "For 6 hours, we stayed near the pool. We went up to the room at dawn. "

For Josiane, the flames destroyed everything in their path:" I told myself that the hotel would never resist " And yet, Hotel Mati resisted and even, from the first night, welcomed survivors from hell that the staff went to search the streets. " I take my hat off to the whole team! They saved the hotel and us with ", congratulates Josiane.

The return to Belgium, his concern

Josiane returns to Belgium next week A return she dreads:" I am a widow. Here I can talk with people who have lived what I lived. In Belgium, I am alone. At night, these flames resurface. I even feel the heat and the smoke. Yesterday, I cried all day because I was afraid to die. I can not sleep anymore. I hardly eat anymore. I am afraid but I intend to stay ", she says.

" Even if nothing is more like before, I will go to the end of my holidays. Not for the holidays because I'm retired, I do not miss, but for the boss, for the people of the hotel … It's been 27 years that I come every year two weeks and I will continue to come, even if I'm scared. This fear, I will overcome it just like the people here ", concludes Josiane, determined.