Fire breaks out at refugee camp on Greek island of Samos

The fire broke out in the early hours of Monday morning.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Monday morning. Copyright KYT Samos - Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum (Handout)
Copyright KYT Samos - Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum (Handout)
By Euronews with AFP
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Around fifteen tents have been destroyed by fire in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos, just three days after the region was hit by an earthquake.

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A fire has broken out at a refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos, just three days after the region hit by a devastating earthquake.

Around fifteen tents were destroyed in the blaze, according to a statement by Greece's Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

Authorities do not know what caused the fire, which broke out at the Samos Health Centre early on Monday morning.

Residents immediately evacuated the tents, as around twenty firefighters brought the incident under control in a few hours.

There were no reports of any injuries. It's estimated that around 4,200 people are sheltered in the Samos refugee camp.

The General Secretary for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, Manos Logothetis, has travelled to the scene.

In September two arson attacks hit the Samos camp, while a blaze also swept through Greece's notoriously overcrowded refugee camp on the island of Lesbos.

Meanwhile, on Friday, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake in the Aegean Sea flooded Samos in a mini "tsunami".

Greece's Special Department for Medical Disaster (ETIK) confirmed that two children had died after a building wall collapsed in the town of Vathi.

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