国际英语资讯:Feature: Residents of fire-stricken resorts near Athens protest delays in reconstruction_时事

国际英语资讯:Feature: Residents of fire-stricken resorts near Athens protest delays in reconstruction

ATHENS, May 16 -- Ten months after losing relatives, friends, neighbors, homes and happiness during wildfires which swept through two once idyllic coastal resorts near Athens, a group of fire-stricken Greeks protested on Thursday outside the Greek Environment Ministry over the delays in the reconstruction process.

On July 23, 2018 two fires which broke out in Kineta, 45 kilometers west of the Greek capital and in Mati, 30 km to the east, claimed 102 lives, leaving behind numerous injured, hundreds of destroyed or damaged houses and many acres of charred down forested land.

In particular the fire at Mati, where all 102 casualties were, was the deadliest in a decade in Greece, leaving the entire nation in shock.

In the first days and weeks after the tragedy officials pledged the state's full support to the residents so they can heal their wounds and stand on their feet again.

On Thursday people protested that ten months later not much has been done yet, after the initial financial handouts.

"We were burned by the fire, but indifference is killing us," read banners raised by protesters.

Ten months later, only a few dozen licenses for reconstruction of houses have been issued, more than 120 families are still housed in camps, while others have found shelter in relatives' homes and infrastructure projects are not progressing fast enough, they said.

"They promised us last summer that this year we would all have returned to our homes. There are people who have lost their loved ones, there are people with burns who are struggling everyday visiting hospitals, with no aid, paying on their own. This is what they must see in Mati, how we are living," Yannis Koletis told Xinhua.