LESBOS, Greece--Thousands of migrants were left without shelter on Wednesday after overnight fires gutted their overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, and authorities warned that some asylum seekers who tested positive for COVID-19 could spread the virus.
The Moria camp, which hosts more than 12,000 people, was "probably totally destroyed", a Greek migration official said. Authorities said they were investigating arson at the sprawling camp. Early Wednesday evening, a new fire broke out, sending those who remained on site fleeing.
A Reuters witness reported seeing a "huge" column of black smoke emerging from the camp. Live images showed people running down a road carrying children and infants, many using prams to transport possessions crammed into bin bags as a fire raged in a gully.
Before the fire, Moria was notorious for its poor living conditions. Pope Francis visited the facility in 2016, in an attempt to highlight conditions and show solidarity with refugees.
Athens declared a state of emergency on Lesbos and sent police reinforcements to the island to help keep order. Many were obstructed from reaching the island's main town, Mytilene.
Congolese asylum seeker Julia Bukasa, 28, was among a group of 50 migrants obstructed by police, who parked buses along a main road leading to the town. She left with her two children and the clothes on her back.
"We don't have a place to sleep. We don't have anything to eat," she told Reuters as she sat on the tarmac breastfeeding her 8-month-old infant.
Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said about 2,000 people affected by the fires would be temporarily put on a ferry boat and two ships of the Greek navy. The location of the rest of the Moria population was not immediately known.
"The situation in Moria cannot go on (as it is) because it is simultaneously a public health and national security issue," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a televised address, adding that managing migrant flows was a "European problem".
Authorities were investigating whether Tuesday night's fires were started deliberately after COVID-19 tests led to the isolation of 35 refugees. Authorities reported that eight of those who tested positive were located.
"There was not just one but many fires in the camp. Migrants threw stones at firefighters trying to put out the fires," regional fire chief Constantine Theophilopoulos told ERT TV.
The camp was placed under quarantine last week after an asylum-seeker tested positive for COVID-19. As of late Monday 35 migrants had been confirmed as having the virus.
