Cooker seen behind deadly blaze at Moria camp

Firefighters on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos are investigating the cause of a blaze that broke out on Monday afternoon at the Moria refugee and migrant camp, killing a child before it was brought under control. Authorities said the child was a girl aged between 6 and 7.

Cramped conditions at the facility hampered the firefighters’ efforts to reach the location of the blaze, which may have started from a gas cooking stove.

Meanwhile, staff at the asylum services of Lesvos and other islands have suspended any work that requires personal contact with applicants. The measure to contain the coronavirus spread was put into force on Friday and is expected to last until April 10 at the earliest, during which time applicants will not be able to sit for interviews, receive any decisions pertaining to their applications or renew their temporary residence permits.

In the meantime, workers will be focusing on processing the applications of asylum seekers who landed on the Greek islands from March 1 to February 29, before asylum was suspended over the migrant push at Greece’s land border with Turkey.

“More than 2,250 reached the island in those two months,” said Marios Kaleas, head of the Regional Asylum Office of Lesvos.