‘A burning hell’: Thousands of migrants forced to flee after fire rips through Moria camp

Lockdown has made it near impossible for aid to be delivered to the migrants now forced to sleep rough, Borzou Daragahi reports

People walk past a fire raging in the camp of Moria on the island of Lesbos (AFP/Getty)

Thousands of people, including women and children already living precariously in what has been described as one of the most decrepit refugee camps in the world, were flung into further chaos after a ferocious overnight fire left the sprawling facility in ashes.

More than 12,000 migrants crammed into the notorious Moria refugee camp, Europe’s largest, on Greece’s Lesbos Island were displaced by the massive blaze that swept through early on Wednesday. Aid workers and government officials are struggling to find them shelter.  

“We now have thousands of people, mostly women and children, vulnerable people, people with disabilities, sleeping rough,” said Eva Cosse, a researcher at Human Rights Watch based in Greece.