Child Dies in Fire at Greek Refugee Camp

FILE - Refugees and migrants make their way in the Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece.
FILE - Refugees and migrants make their way in the Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece.
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Child Dies in Fire at Greek Refugee Camp

FILE - Refugees and migrants make their way in the Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece.
FILE - Refugees and migrants make their way in the Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece.

A child has been found dead following a fire Tuesday evening at a refugee camp north of Athens, the fire service said.

The child was not breathing by the time firefighters arrived at the camp at Thiva, 54 kilometers from the Greek capital.

Eight firefighters and four fire engines were needed to bring the fire under control.

According to initial reports, police had to intervene when asylum seekers blocked their access to the building that had caught fire. It is not known what started the blaze.

It was the latest in a series of fires at migrant camps in different parts of Greece.

In winter, many migrants resort to wood fires to keep warm because of the lack of proper heating in the tented camps, which regularly leads to accidents.

Campaigners have repeatedly warned about the plight of those forced to stay in the migrant camps across the country in winter weather.



Hundreds of Journalists in France Stage ‘Die-in’ Solidarity Rally for Colleagues Killed in Gaza

More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 
More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 
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Hundreds of Journalists in France Stage ‘Die-in’ Solidarity Rally for Colleagues Killed in Gaza

More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 
More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 

Hundreds of journalists joined demonstrations in Paris and Marseille (southern France) on Wednesday in a show of solidarity for their colleagues killed in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, AFP correspondents said.

In Paris, more than 200 journalists, including prominent members of the French press, lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out.

Nearly 200 journalists were killed in the Palestinian enclave since October 2023.

“Gaza of faces, not just numbers”, read posters bearing photographs of their fallen Palestinian colleagues.

At the demonstration, placards bearing the logos of journalist trade unions stood alongside numerous Palestinian flags and keffiyehs. Some participants also chanted, “We will not be silent,” and “Free Palestine.”

Head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate Europe branch, Yousef Habash, made a stand against “genocide” in Gaza, demanding an end to the blockade imposed on the Strip.

Head of France’s journalist union SNJ-CGT, Pablo Aiquel, said, “We have never witnessed such a high number of victims in our profession.”

He said the right to information is under threat.

Reporters Without Borders Director General Thibaut Bruttin said “This gathering comes late, perhaps too late. (...) I've never seen a conflict during which a killed journalist is described as a terrorist.”

In Marseille, about 160 people attended a similar demonstration. The names of journalists killed in Gaza were read out, before the participants held a minute's silence to mourn the victims.

In an op-ed in the leading French daily Le Monde earlier this week, several journalist associations, trade unions and around 40 media organizations, condemned the Israeli media blackout in Gaza.

“The Israeli army is imposing a media blackout on Gaza to silence, as much as possible, the witnesses of the war crimes committed by its troops,” said the newspaper column.