“We were hit by some sticks in the sea, then I found out they were dead bodies”

Ten witnesses testified during today’s session of the Three-member Court of Misdemeanors in the case of the deadly fire in Mati, mainly relatives of the victims of the national tragedy of 2018.

All of them referred to the lack of information about the fire in Mati from the competent agencies as well as the lack of fire brigades and not only forces.

The witness, Sumela Hatjilazaridou, who fought for seven hours in the sea in order to be saved, described what she dramatically experienced that afternoon.

“We were hit by some sticks in the sea, then I found out they were dead bodies”
“From around six I was in the sea swimming for 6.5 to 7 hours. We were being hit by some sticks which after some time I found out were dead bodies. A girl had a panic attack and I picked her up to help her cope. We were shouting, screaming and nothing. Late at night a fishing boat threw a rope for us to climb up, a lady got stuck. When I went up, my voice stopped and I couldn’t speak, which is slowly coming back now after 6 years,” said the witness in court.

For his part, Anastasios Athanasopoulos, who lost his mother, whom he specifically mentioned, he recognized by her ring, emphasized that:

“There is no issue of fringes or arbitrariness. They could have escaped in three minutes, but here it was impossible to leave as they did. The mice were caught in the lens and the fire passed through Marathon. All this about extreme phenomena and environmental crisis, applies from Marathon onwards, according to us – the Matiotes – from Marathon onwards the crime of entrapment became” said Mr. Athanasopoulos.

The witness even said that in the end his mother’s apartment did not burn even though the upper, lower and adjacent apartments did.

“Panic is the worst adviser. She tried with her neighbor to escape in those 19 minutes. They were surprised because there was no notification, not even bells. They went to leave in the car but did not leave them. They lost precious time, fighting like amusement park skirmishers” said Mr. Athanasopoulos

Prosecutor: If she stayed in her house, do you think she would be saved?

Witness: Lotto..

Prosecutor: So her reaction to leave wasn’t wrong… it wasn’t panic… could she be playing Lotto?

Witness: the apartment building has 19 apartments. Some played the Lotto and won. On the ground floor of the apartment building, 7 ground-floor apartments in one, 17 people gathered and fortified themselves with towels and waited.

My mother and the neighbor when the apartment next door caught fire, you can’t stay away from the smoke. Her reaction was logical. In retrospect prophet I come and say it was Lotto. Common sense says I’m leaving to save myself.

“My mother was found completely charred”
For his part, Grigoris Politis, whose mother was charred to death in their country house on Marathonos Avenue, while his father managed to be saved, expressed the opinion that the fire brigade could have intervened.

“My father, 87 years old, reached the sea about 1 kilometer away and stayed there for about 2 hours without anyone to help him. A private citizen eventually took him to an ambulance with severe burns to his hands and face. I am impressed that my father was able to make this entire journey, while specially equipped people could not” he specifically said in his testimony.

The witness also described the alalum that prevailed even after the deadly fire.

“My mother couldn’t leave the house. When we got home, we checked. The first floor was still burning. We asked for the help of the fire department but they told us that it is not their job to rescue a person and to call the EMS. After 20 minutes they came but they told us that the fire brigade must come to put out the fire. We called the fire department again and of course time was lost. Eventually my mother found herself in a little house outside the main house. There was nothing left but a few bones. It was completely charred. There was no organization. When the fire started they should have helped more in extinguishing it, when the fire threatened there was no notification and when it reached the urban fabric the forces could have helped people to save themselves and we would not have had so many victims,” ​​said Mr. Politis.

“After we received the body with a funeral home, as we were told, we went to Dau Pentelis according to the instructions. But there was no one there and it had been evacuated since 5 pm. Finally, the headquarters asked us to leave her back where we found her and to pick her up the next day. I didn’t and they finally arranged to pick up in Sismanoglio 5 hours later. That’s where the absolute lack of organization can be seen that day,” the witness also emphasized.

“My husband was shouting: Run to the cliff!”
Anastasia-Christiana Fragou, whose family owns the property where dozens of charred people of various ages were found, also testified in court.

The witness stood firm in her testimony that there were passages in Mati and emphasized that they burned because the evacuation did not take place.

He then described how they tried to leave but were unable to because the fire caught up with them. “We realized there was no way to leave when a pine tree immediately flared up, as if someone had planted a bomb. When we re-entered the plot, we see the kosmaki entering the dirt road shouting for help. The only humane thing we could do is to open the door and all of us go to the cliff to save ourselves. Because there is no beach as the media said, but a cliff 18 meters high, which we literally flew down.

My husband yelled “run to the cliff” and we started running. When I opened the back door of the vehicle to get our animals, I said to my neighbor Chrysa Spiliotis who was boneless “run, what are you doing?”, not knowing that she had gone for a bath with her husband and was waiting for him… When we reached the cliff a one guy sprained his ankle, another hit his knees… my son fell into the sea and was lost for 2.5 hours…” said the witness

Chairman: If you went to the cliff was there no fear of being killed?

Witness: My grandfather had carved the rock, because he liked fishing and had made rudimentary steps to catch octopuses. But with time and years they had worn away. We could not see anything from there, we could hear helicopters, voices of people from the sea. At 12 o’clock, a small boat came that could somehow approach ..

Chairman: Those trapped in your plot couldn’t get off?

Witness: The fire runs at breakneck speed. As I was informed, the last one who was saved, saw the world and broke into our house, entered the bedroom and stayed there until he couldn’t stand it because everything was on fire, curtains, mattresses… He jumped out of the window and told us that he had already passed heat wave and I had scanned the spot. There was no one standing outside anymore…

The trial continues on Wednesday, August 28.

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