Two dead after fire breaks out at Greek migrant camp, triggering clashes with police

New York Times — Two people were killed and two others were injured after a fire broke out at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesvos late on Thursday, a police official said.

The official said that a 66-year-old woman and a 6-year-old child were killed when a tent caught fire in the Moria refugee camp. Two other people were seriously injured.

The police and the fire brigade were investigating at the scene, a government official said, adding that according to initial evidence the fire was probably caused by accident.

Brief clashes between dozens of migrants and the police broke out after the fire, officials said.

More than 6,000 migrants and refugees are stranded on the island of Lesvos, twice the capacity of state facilities.

Tensions have boiled over at overcrowded camps in the country, which is also struggling to emerge from a debt crisis, as the slow processing of asylum requests adds to frustration over living conditions.

Under a European Union deal with Turkey, migrants and refugees who arrived after March 20 are to be held in centers set up on five Aegean islands, including Lesvos, and sent back if their asylum applications are not accepted.