ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Authorities on the Greek island of Lesbos say a large number of migrants have fled a camp under COVID-19 lockdown early Wednesday after multiple fires broke out around the site.
The fires broke out overnight, police and Fire Service officials on the island told the Associated Press, adding the cause of the blazes remained unclear. They did not confirm local reports that the fires had been set deliberately in protest at the lockdown measures but said firefighters had “met resistance” from some camp residents.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Some 12,500 people live at the Moria camp and the surrounding area, where additional restrictions have been imposed over the past week after a Somali resident tested positive for COVID-19.
Health authorities on Tuesday said 35 cases of the virus had been confirmed so far after a major testing drive was ordered at the overcrowded facility.
Early Wednesday, riot police were deployed around the camp and along the 5-kilometer route to the island’s main town of Mytilene, in an apparent effort to block migrants from reaching the port.
Lesbos was Europe’s busiest crossing point in 2015-16 for illegal migration during a massive westward movement of refugees, many fleeing war in Syria and Iraq and traveling through Turkey.
Firefighters on Lesbos were also battling two other forest fires on the west of the island.
