Greek govt: second fire at refugee camp was arson

Greek government said Thursday a second fire which destroyed nearly everything in Greece's overcrowded Moria refugee camp was started deliberately and has left vast majority of camp's residents homeless.

"Some people do t respect country that is hosting m, and y strive to prove y are t looking for a passport to a better life," spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters in Ans.

He said those who started fires "did this because y considered that if y torch Moria, y will indiscriminately leave island".

But Petsas said only Moria residents who would be allowed to leave Lesbos were 406 unaccompanied children and teenrs who h alrey been flown to rrn Greece overnight.

New, small fires also sprang up in remains of tents set up outside camp, fanned by strong winds Thursday morning.

Authorities say both major fires in camp on island of Lesbos were deliberately started, with first on Tuesday evening set by residents angered by quarantine measures imposed to contain a COVID-19 outbreak after 35 people tested positive.

That blaze h left about 3,500 of more than 12,500 people living in and around Moria homeless, and authorities flew in tents and were providing a ferry and two navy ships as emergency temporary housing.

But new fires sprang up in undamd parts of camp Wednesday evening, destroying greater part of what was left and sending thousands of people streaming out of facility.

Apart from main camp, Moria also consisted of a sprawling tent city that h sprung up in olive groves outside main perimeter fence due to overcrowding.

Much of that was burned beyond repair by Thursday morning, with just blackened frames of tents remaining among charred olive tree trunks.