Migrant farm workers see camp go up in smoke

Dozens of migrant farm workers in Nea Manolada in the northwestern Peloponnese saw their scant belongings go up in smoke on Thursday morning after a fire burned through a camp of makeshift shelters.

There were no injuries reported during the incident, though the workers, who are mostly Bangladeshi migrants, lamented the loss of hard-earned cash and important papers like passports.

“The fire was extremely dangerous as there were at least 70 propane gas tanks at the location, each weighing 25 kilograms, but also because all the shelters are made of plastic,” the fire chief for the region of Ilia, Yiannis Karamalikis, said.

Labor Minister Efi Achtizoglou and her deputy, Nasos Iliopoulos, traveled to the location to speak with the workers.

Nea Manolada gained international notoriety in 2013 when a farm foreman opened fire on 42 migrant strawberry pickers after they complained over unpaid wages.