A small but angry crowd greeted two arrested men as they were led to a prosecutor’s office in the western port city of Patras on Thursday, as the pair face intentional arson charges in relation to a destructive wildfire that erupted nearby this week.
The two suspects follow the arrest of a 25-year-old a day earlier, also on arson charges, with police saying the latter confessed to intentionally starting a fire in a semi-rural area.
The pair’s arrest comes after eyewitness testimony, CCTV video footage and photographs purportedly showed them moving suspiciously in a rural district west of Patras atop a motorbike. One of the two, 27, was found in possession of matches, a lighter and cellphone he used to approach the site. Reports claim a local resident saw them toss a bottle in a nearby thicket. A bottle later recovered at the site allegedly contained a flammable liquid, authorities said.
A photograph allegedly shows a man blamed for one of several wildfires west of the port city of Patras this past week. One suspect, 25, was arrested and charged with felony arson in the case.
When questioned by police, the 27-year-old denied all the charges against him and said his memory was impaired because he was drinking on the specific evening.
The two were arrested shortly after a fire erupted in the Sychainá settlement near Patras.
The other man arrested, aged 25, was arrested for a blaze near the Girokomeio site, named after a state-run elderly home located there. This fire was particularly destructive, with flames coming close to the Patras city limits.
Residences, businesses and two monasteries in the fire’s path were damaged.
The 25-year-old, police said, pointed to the exact spot where he started the fire after dusk, when aircraft were not operating, and while another wildfire was underway at the Platani site.
All three of the suspects face felony arson charges, with the maximum sentences upon a possible conviction stiffened after a penal code revision in 2019.
