"I remember being in the sea with my hands outstretched and pulling out my flesh. I got out and went back in again because I was drying up and dying from the pain," said witness Ioanna Petala, who lost her parents in the flames, testifying today at the trial of the Eye, while she herself has suffered burns on her hands, back, buttocks and legs and to this day, she said, is facing serious problems.
Beginning her testimony at the Athens Trial Court, the witness described: "That day around 17.30 I heard on TV about the fire in Daou. Ten minutes later the power went out and the whole neighbourhood came out. There was something strange in the atmosphere, the wind was strong. We decided to stay indoors. Just as I was closing the last shutter I hear my mom screaming. Some branches had lit up. My mom grabbed her purse and I grabbed the keys and we left towards Pericles. As we were leaving a neighbor was getting into her car and we went with her. We had to take a left down the street. The fire was chasing us from the left and back. When we came to a standstill I saw that the fire was very close. I tell them to get out, we're going to burn. There was very thick black smoke."
Continuing her testimony, the witness was shocked when she began to describe what she saw when she got out of her house. She characteristically stated: "I fell down, I lost my glasses. I turned back and saw flames of fire. Instinctively I headed towards the sea. I could hear people screaming. A young man passed by with only his boxers on and a mother with a fainting child or dead... Someone says to me, girl, you're on fire. I was on fire in the back. I got to the sea and fell right in. Everything above was burning. There were explosions. I was sitting next to a family. At one point I was cold. I remember being in the sea with my arms outstretched and pulling out my flesh. I got out and got back in because I was dry and dying of pain."
During the hours the woman was in the sea, she testified, she saw people desperately calling for help, which never came. "At one point someone spoke to one of his own."
"We are all on the beach, call someone to save us," she told him. At some point I heard the voice of someone I knew. I asked for help because I couldn't even speak. I heard my neighbour's voice on the beach. I tell her where my mother is. She tells me she is fine," Petala said and continued: "At some point a boat came along. I passed out. We arrived in Rafina. They took me to Triasio and then to the General Hospital and I stayed 54 days. I was burned on my arms, back, buttocks and legs. I had a pulmonary embolism, I had complications. I was in ICU for 8 days. They said I wouldn't get away with it. I couldn't walk. My burns still hurt in the heat. I can't function properly. Not a day goes by that I don't think about what I have experienced."
Later in her testimony, the witness referred to what she learned afterwards about her parents with whom she had been separated: "My mother was lying on the sidewalk, down on her knees, so burnt she had no hair. She was naked, no hair and screaming. They brought her a tablecloth from the tavern. I know from a gentleman who was with her that 5-6 hours she was alive. By the time she got to Rafina she was dead. My father was charred near the car. He didn't make it far... Nobody informed us. There was a perception in Mati that if something dangerous happened, the bells would ring. If someone had notified us even ten minutes earlier, my family would have lived."
The witness's sister, Dimitra Petala, also testified in the audience, referring to the efforts she made to locate her family members. The witness said among other things in her testimony: "...I made dozens of calls everywhere. The coastguard, fire brigade, hospitals. I couldn't find anyone. And I received a call a few hours later from the fire brigade of Thessaloniki! That's where I reported the missing persons! To the fire brigade of Thessaloniki."
Ms Petala also mentioned her sister who was hospitalized and she asked to talk to her: "They answered me: "you can't, her hands are burnt". You can understand the shock. I went to see her and the ward smelled of burnt flesh. She even reported that she alone called to identify her dead parents. "I had no information. I called and told them "I think in these bags you have, I have two dead people in them," the witness said.
Source: protothema.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
