Photo taken on Sept. 9, 2020 shows the site after a fire broke out at refugee and migrants camp Moria, on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesvos, Greece. A large fire broke out at Greece's largest refugee and migrants camp Moria in the early hours of Wednesday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported. The fire has spread throughout the reception center. Authorities have announced that 35 refugees had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and some of them refused to get into quarantine with their families, according to the report. No injuries have been reported so far. The overflowing camp hosted some 12,700 people with a capacity of 2,757, according to the latest official data provided by the Greek government. (Photo by Panagiotis Balaskas/Xinhua)
ATHENS, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- A large fire broke out at Greece's largest refugee and migrants camp Moria, on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesvos in the early hours of Wednesday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
The fire has spread throughout the reception center. Authorities have announced that 35 refugees had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and some of them refused to get into quarantine with their families, according to the report.
People were evacuated and officials were examining solutions for their accommodation. No injuries have been reported so far.
The overflowing camp hosted some 12,700 people with a capacity of 2,757, according to the latest official data provided by the Greek government.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 at Moria was detected a week ago.
"The disaster at Moria is total. We must see in cooperation with all institutions what solutions we can provide for the temporary and long-term hospitality of residents there. It is a first priority for everyone," Manos Logothetis, secretary general of the Reception of Asylum Seekers of the Migration and Asylum Ministry, told AMNA before travelling to the island.
A mini cabinet meeting chaired by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected on Wednesday morning to assess the situation, his office announced in an e-mailed press release.
"The night was very difficult for everybody on the island. It is a tragic development amidst a pandemic. Now more than 12,000 people are out in the open on the road or fled to the mountains," Stratis Kitelis, mayor of Mytilene, the island's capital, told Greek TV channel MEGA.
Currently, Greece hosts about 100,000 asylum seekers. Since 2015 more than one million refugees and migrants reached the country and most continued their journey to other countries in Europe before borders closed along the Balkan route in 2016.
