Family of solider killed in 1998 mine blast to receive 350,000-euro compensation
The family of an army mine-clearer who was killed while trying to disarm a landmine in Evros, northern Greece, in 1998, has been granted 350,000 euros in compensation.
The Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, on Monday ruled against an appeal by the Greek state to overturn an earlier ruling by an administrative appeals court, which granted the 20-year-old’s family compensation of 350,000 euros from the 1.1 million euros they had initially claimed.
An investigation into the incident at the time had found that the 20-year-old, identified as S.P., had caused the landmine to go off after failing to inform his lieutenant that he had been having problems extracting it so it could be safely detonated as part of a mine-clearing operation.
Another soldier, identified as H.P. was killed in the blast, while another, I.L., suffered serious injuries.
