Athens: At least two people were killed after a fire broke out in an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, local media reported on Sunday.
Quoting local media, Xinhua news agency reported that the fire was started by a group of camp residents who demanded to be transferred to the mainland.
The casualties include a woman and her child, Mytilene city Mayor Stratis Kitellis said. “The situation is tense,” Al Jazeera quoted Kytelis as saying. “There is information about a dead mother and her child. We haven’t been able to confirm that yet.”
Greek police spokesman Theodoros Chronopoulos said the migrants lit a blaze at an olive grove outside the camp just before 5 pm (local time) and, minutes later, another inside the camp. Clashes between police and fleeing migrants were witnessed in the area following this.
Both the fires were later extinguished, the Mayor informed.
The camps, which were designed for about 3000 migrants, house an estimated 12000 people, most of which are Afghans.