Moving moments unfolded at events marking the sixth anniversary of the deadly fire in Mati.
After the Trisagion and the Invocation of the Dead at Neos Voutzas, a procession was held to Mati, which ended at the Argyra Akti. There, relatives lit 104 lanterns which they “released” into the sea in memory of the victims.
Video and photos of the lanterns:
Victim’s relative shocked: ‘Our pain is harvesting but becoming more silent’
Today marked the culmination of commemorative events to mark the six-year anniversary of the deadly fire in Mati that began at 9 a.m. with a Memorial Service at the Church of St. John, in Neos Voutzas, followed by a Memorial Service at the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, in Kokkino Limanaki, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop of Messogaia, Mr. Nicholas.
At 18:30, at the Monument of the Victims in Neo Voutza, a trisagion was held, with the Invocation of the 104 dead. “Anyone who wishes may place a flower in their memory,” they said in the statement. It was followed, the march of all, from the Monument, on the fire road, to the N.A.O.MA. in Mati. At 20:00, the main event and the triumphal ceremony was held at the Naval Athletic Club in Mati (N.A.O.MA.). In her speech, a relative of a victim was shocked by what she said: “Do we understand how excruciatingly our dead were burned? Have we asked our burn victims directly what they experienced? These people are the only living proof of what our dead also experienced, of what they saw in front of them. No, we have not asked them, lest we spoil the comforting narrative in our minds that they didn’t get to understand anything, they understood everything and they were alone. And unfortunately for some, some survived so they can recount what happened. This is the truth we want to be part of. And that every Greek and every European learn it with us. Our pain, as the years go by, grows but becomes more silent”.
At 21:00, walking from the N.A.O.MA to the martyred Argyra Akti, 104 floating lanterns and flowers were left in memory of the victims and white balloons for Evita and the 11 children, who did not have time to grow up.
Watch video and photos from the trishagion and march:
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Six years ago, one of the greatest tragedies ever to have occurred in Greece, the fire in Mati, which left 104 people dead and plunged the country into mourning.While the memories of the deadly fire remain fresh, the families of the victims continue to call for justice and for those responsible to be punished. On 23 July 2018, in a matter of minutes, Mati in Attica was engulfed in flames. Behind it, the fire left 104 dead.
On Monday 22 July, six years later, the 21 defendants accused of this inferno sat in the dock again for the sixth hearing following the prosecution’s appeal of the first trial verdict. According to that judgment, on 29 April, only six of the defendants were found guilty. They were the chief and deputy chief of operations of the Fire Corps, the commander of the Unified Coordinating Operations Center, the commander of the Athens Fire Service Command, the commander of the East Attica Fire Services and the resident from whose field, in Daou Penteli, the deadly fire started.
