Perama: Protest Over Major Fire – “We Were Lucky Not to Be Blown Up”
Residents and local groups in Perama took to the streets on Monday afternoon (19 January), holding a dynamic rally and march under the central slogan “Out with the cauldrons of death”.
The protest was sparked by the dangerous fire that broke out around midnight on Saturday, raising fears of a large-scale industrial accident.
The Timeline of Terror and 20-Metre-High Flames
The fire broke out on Demokratias Avenue, beneath the municipal stadium, most likely due to a fuel leak from a pipeline.
Local residents say they received no warning from the authorities and went out of their homes on their own when they saw huge flames erupting from the storage tanks. Within minutes, the alarm was raised: the Hellenic Police sealed off Demokratias Avenue to allow fire engines and water tankers to access the area without obstruction, while traffic was diverted via the heavily congested Papandreou Avenue, which runs parallel to Demokratias.
Perama Mayor Giannis Lagoudakos, who was at the scene, said in statements that the flames reached a height of 20 metres and that there was a risk that “400 stremmas of flammable installations could blow the entire Attica basin into the air”. The fire was brought partially under control at around 4 a.m. on Sunday.
“Lives on the Line”
According to OrangePress.gr, speakers at Monday’s march accused the authorities of sacrificing public safety on the altar of profit and geopolitical agendas.
“The tanks must go. Why? We saw the other day the kind of danger that exists — the risk of a major industrial accident,” a speaker at the rally said. He went on to link the operation of the facilities to war planning: “That is precisely why they change the type of fuel in the tanks, dispersing it so there is a reserve in case tanks are bombed.”
Another speaker, addressing the crowd, spoke of a criminal policy “that treats our lives as a cost” and “doesn’t give a damn about our safety”.
A local resident, speaking on the day of the incident to the Orange Press Agency, said: “We saw the fire ourselves and went down with the fear that one of the tanks might catch fire and we would all be blown up.”
She called on the state to take action, stressing: “Residents here have been fighting for years and demanding that the tanks be removed from the city. And they keep mocking us. What we are asking now is to receive clear instructions. We are calling on the government and the regional authorities to take initiatives.”
KKE: “The 112 Alert Came Three Hours Later”
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a strongly worded statement, warning that “pure luck prevented worse developments” and that public safety is being put “on the line”.
The party criticised the delayed response of the state mechanism, noting that “company officials arrived three and a half hours later”, while “as for the much-vaunted 112 system, it ‘appeared’ three hours after the outbreak of the fire, telling residents to ‘close their windows’”.
On 23 January, residents of Perama will stage a new protest, symbolically blocking the area’s only exit road, with a gathering planned at the entrance to the city (Nea Ikonio).
Πηγή: www.news247.gr
