Investigator calls for new felony charge against fire service, civil protection in Mati case

Almost two years after a 2018 deadly blaze in the seaside town of Mati, eastern Attica, a special magistrate probing the case asked on Thursday to bring forward new felony charges of exposing people to danger against employees of the Greek Fire Service and the General Secretariat for Civil Protection.

According to information, the belated charge was proposed after new evidence emerged from recent raids on state services that were involved in the operation to put out the blaze.

According to sources, the raids were ordered on the basis of tipoffs as well as indications from the probe that evidence might have been covered up.

More than 100 people were killed when a fire swept through the town in eastern Attica.

The findings of a March 2019 report on the deadly blaze showed the complete lack of organization, coordination and efficiency in the country’s state services.