An apparently accidental fire destroyed a tent without causing any casualties in the Karatepe migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, where accommodation conditions are denounced by NGOs, according to corroborating sources.
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"
The fire causing a short circuit was probably caused by a radiator,
" said an official of the press office of the fire department.
The tent was destroyed as well as the belongings of the hosted family who were transferred to another tent, according to a source from the Migration Ministry.
According to a camp employee, a second nearby tent was also destroyed by flames, without causing any casualties.
The cold snap that has hit Greece since the start of the week has put the 6,000 migrants from Karatepe camp on Lesvos in the Aegean to the test as well as the tens of thousands of asylum seekers hosted in camps across the country.
The Karatepe temporary camp was hastily set up in September on flood-prone, blazingly windy terrain after two large fires ravaged the Moria camp on the island, the most overcrowded and squalid in Europe at the time.
Human rights NGOs have sounded the alarm in recent days on the deteriorating conditions with the cold in the Karatepe camp and urgently called for the opening of churches and other heated buildings to accommodate primarily children.
