The recent wildfires on Zakynthos island were the work of arsonists, Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said on Tuesday.
Speaking on Real FM, Toskas said that the number of fires that broke out simultaneously in different parts of the island indicate that there was an arson plan carried out.
Toskas suggested that the arsonists may have being trying to create space for hotels in protected forest areas.
Specifically, the deputy minister said, 22 fires were recorded simultaneously on the Ionian island during the weekend, and that there had been 84 fires in total on Zakynthos this summer. The 18 fires that were burning on Tuesday were put under control, with 200 firefighters remaining on alert.
Toskas noted that most of the fires occurred in the northern part of the island, where, he said, there are plots that can be very profitable if they are built on.
The deputy minister revealed that firefighting helicopters pilots had seen people trying to set fires. “In most cases the fires appear to have been the result of arson – this is what everything points to,” he said. However, he added, some of the fires were accidental.
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