The prosecutor ordered an urgent preliminary examination for suspicious packages and remains of an incendiary device found in areas of the municipality of Thermi, where forest fires broke out in the previous 24 hours.

By order of the head of the Prosecutor’s Office of Thessaloniki, Dimitris Smyrnis to the prosecutor of criminal prosecution, Anastasios Kessisis, it was ordered to conduct a criminal investigation to determine whether the commission of a series of offences is established.

More specifically, it will be investigated whether the acts of arson in a forest, the possession of incendiary materials and objects to cause and spread a fire within a forest area, as well as the construction and possession of incendiary materials and devices, which can cause danger to humans, were committed.

As part of the investigation, the Fire Service – which is called upon in principle to carry it out – is instructed to take statements from any eyewitnesses, from employees of the municipality of Thermi who located the specific items and employees of the Fire Department. In addition, an expert’s report is requested, with a detailed description of the nature of these objects.

The prosecutorial intervention was caused by the announcement of the municipality of Thermi a few days ago, through which it became known that suspicious packages – suitable for causing a fire – were found by employees of the municipality in the area of Kardia on the one hand, and on the other hand the remains of an incendiary device, at a distance of 200 meters from Livadi (on the road to Petrokerasa), where fires broke out. The same statement refers to arsonists who targeted forest areas in the mountains of the municipality of Thermi.