Greek firefighters join the outcry over a "lamentable" response to the deadly forest fires | News from the world

The fury with regard to the Greek government 's forest fires that saw dozens of people burn just 15 miles from Athens has worsened.

As the death toll rose to 88, firefighters joined the public outcry. rescue operation. Dimitris Stathopoulos, who heads the 12,500 members of the Federation of Fire Fighters, said the authorities had not only been terribly ill-prepared to deal with forest fires, but that they had not presented any fires. Apologies for this tragedy. "The government could say that there were no serious operational mistakes, but what it does not say, is that there have been thousands of small mistakes, "he told the Observer . "All these mistakes make the big mistake and that's why we had an unprecedented death toll."

Firefighters recommended the evacuation of the area, but were not listened to, he said. In addition, the meteorological service had failed to predict winds of up to 124 km / h. This resulted in the grounding of firefighting aircraft. "They just could not take off in such winds, and if the weather service raised the danger level and issued a warning, the planes could have gone to another airport," he said. "And because they were not planned our resources were scattered."

The leftist government was left in shock of the disaster.In what has become one of the worst natural disasters of human memory, many victims crews still paint the earth and the sea ​​for missing persons.

Authorities appear to have underestimated the extent and speed of fires along the coast of Attica from the outset. When the fires already erased the resort of Mati, where the death toll was highest, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras seemed ill-informed about the scale of the calamity, saying to the Greeks after a meeting at the center of operational command of the emergency services: the citizens are in danger … some are trapped on the beaches. We should all be vigilant. This is an extremely difficult situation for Attica and the country.

On Friday, he badumed political responsibility for the tragedy, but he did not respond to calls for the resignation of Nikos Toskas, Minister of Civil Protection and other officials. S addressing his cabinet, he repeated Toskas' badertion that the evidence seemed to indicate arson. But on Saturday, the fire department's fire department rejected this theory, saying it was most likely triggered by someone who was burning wood in the Daou Penteli area. , where we now know that the forest fire has started. The Greek daily Kathimerini declared that the identity of the culprit was already known

"Greek governments have always found it convenient to blame profiteers, arsonists, terrorists and even foreign agents," said Tsipras former finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis. "With such inflammatory allegations … public servants avoid admitting their lack of preparation and their inability to adopt and enforce appropriate security laws and regulations."

The two deputy mayors in Marathon, the region most affected by the fires They resigned saying that their conscience did not allow them to remain in their positions.

Echoing Varoufakis 'argument that the austerity inflicted on Greece had also played a role in the authorities' inability to respond effectively to the disaster, Stathopoulos admitted that less 30% of useless firefighters. The indebted country has applied harsh measures in exchange for bailout loans to avoid bankruptcy.

"About 15% of our fleet of 1,750 trucks are off-road because they have chronic problems and are old," he said. . "Another 15% need spare parts that we can not afford.As firefighters, we take an oath to protect people and their properties.We know when to recommend the evacuation of certain areas, but for For some reason, our recommendation has not been heard.It is a huge tragedy for our country and an apology is due. "