Riots broke out at Moria detention camp on the island of Lesvos, when a cooking gas exploded killing an Afghan grandmother, 66, and her 5-year-old grandchild. Seriously injured were the mother, 25, and a sibling 4 years old; they were transferred to Athens for treatment with a C-120 helicopter.
Another ten people were slightly injured, among them several children.
The tragic accident occurred around 10 o’ clock at night, when the grandmother turned on the cooking gas canister inside the tent in order to cook something.
The explosion was powerful, the tent went alight, the massive fire immediately spread around.
video: sent by an aid worker in the camp to Ruptly
The grandmother and her grandson were killed at the spot, the mother and the other boy of the family were slightly away from the spot and therefore they were seriously injured.
Panic broke out in the overcrowded camp hosting more than 3,000 refugees and migrants awaiting for their asylum application procedures to conclude. As the fire spread from tent to tent, dozens of people fled the camp in anxiety.
However, some started to riot as the rumor that a bomb exploded spread as quickly as the fire. It was reportedly Afghan migrants who attacked with stones and sticks policemen who rushed to the hot spot.
It needed the intervention of riot police to calm down the situation and allow the fire brigades to extinguish the fire and the ambulances to take the injured to the local hospital.
Evacuated were mostly women and children and the camp section for unaccompanied minors. They had to spend the night outdoors in the surrounding agricultural plots as the fire had destroyed their tents and their few belongings.
The fire was extinguished at 3 o’ clock in the morning.
Authorities investigate the conditions and the cause of the explosion.
more pictures in Empros.net.