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Five days after devastating forest fires decimated seaside communities outside Athens, leaving 87 dead and countless missing, besieged Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras assumed political responsibility for the disaster.
At an emergency meeting of his cabinet, he acknowledged that the tragedy had left him wondering if his government could have done more to prevent such loss of life. "It's a difficult moment, perhaps the heaviest of our mandate," he said. "The dead can not speak, but the least we can do in their memory is to show respect for the truth."
"In front of the cabinet and the Greek people, I want to take full responsibility for the tragedy … It goes without saying to the Prime Minister of a country – and I ask you to". also assume responsibility, however difficult it may be. "
The left-wing coalition was left to falter by criticizing its management of the disaster. . Tsipras, who took power in 2015, promising to radically change the way Greece was governed, admitted that he had been "possessed by" mixed feelings of suffering, devastation and anguish. .. "properly in those critical hours, and if we could have done anything more to save yet another souls who died unjustly."
The Prime Minister has not appeared in public since the return from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday when it became clear that wildfires were raging out of control barely 25 km from the capital. Its absence has reinforced the outcry provoked by the reaction to a catastrophe now considered the worst of Greece in the modern era. As the death toll increases, the Queen joins with other international heads of state to express her condolences this week.
Addressing his dark and slaughtered ministers, Tsipras said that the disaster had left him fearing that by a "conservation instinct", members of his government might have "done too much." excuses to reduce accountability "- even though the Tsipras coalition but caused a new fury on Friday when the Minister of Civil Protection, Nikos Toskas, said at a press conference hastily arranged that his He suspected that the fire had caused the fires, he had found no indication. "Serious errors" in the way they were treated.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos was heckled while inspecting the calcined remains of Mati's buildings, the seaside village almost entirely erased by the fire and where most of the dead took place.
It is now known that many victims died after being trapped in vehicles while they were trying to escape fires. But with gale force winds up to 124 km / h that stoke the flames, the government insisted that there was no time to evacuate people from the areas whose escape routes were blocked by illegally built summer residences.
In a special report, experts from the faculty of geology and geo-environment of the University of Athens describe Mati as a "fire trap", arguing that the anarchic construction of the station made impossible fire safety in a region well known for the summer. flames.
The government quickly announced aid measures, including an exceptional payment of 10,000 euros (8,800 euros) for the families of the victims, university places for the children affected and public jobs for the partners of the victims. victims. As rescue teams continued to search the devastated area for dozens of people still missing, Tsipras says he is committed to dealing with the chronic problems that triggered the tragedy, starting with the illegal construction and looting of the area. abuse of nature.
"We will proceed with speed and determination to develop a national plan that will finally address construction anomalies dating back several decades," he said.
It was crucial, he added, that the country is reshaping its civil protection agency. "If we have to put bulldozers to work and face the confrontation, so be it, we will not sit idly by, take half measures, wait undecidedly for the next tragedy." [19659016]
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