The heads of Greece’s national police and fire services have been dismissed and replaced following the wildfires that broke out east of Athens on 23 July that resulted in 91 deaths.
The decision was officially announced by the Greek government on Sunday.
The now former chief of Hellenic Police, Constantine Tsouvalas had been in the position since February 2016, while former head of the Hellenic Fire Service Sotiris Terzoudis was in the post for around five months.
Their dismissal came a day after the resignation of the country’s Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas.
Mr Toskas succumbed to public pressure to leave his post after continually defending authorities’ response to the emergency while under his supervision.
However the absence of an official evacuation effort for locals in Mati did not go unnoticed by critics in the aftermath of the tragedy. As a result, police allegedly allowed traffic diversions which saw motorists driving directly into the burning area.
Mr Toskas formally resigned from his post in a meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
The PM took to Twitter to thank the former Minister for having the courage to make the move.
“I warmly thank Nikos Toskas for the honesty and dedication he displayed during the discharge of his duties,” Mr Tsipras Tweeted.
Η γενναιότητα ενός στρατηγού δεν μετριέται μόνο την ώρα της μάχης αλλά και την ώρα του απολογισμού. Ευχαριστώ θερμά τον Νίκο Τόσκα για την εντιμότητα και την αφοσίωση που επέδειξε κατά την εκτέλεση των καθηκόντων που του ανέθεσα.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) August 3, 2018
Mr Toskas’ duties have since been assigned to Interior Minister, Panos Skourletis.
Meanwhile on Sunday the government announced authorities would commence demolition in the coming week on dozens of illegal structures and fences in the region where the fires took place, which officials have since deduced were a significant factor resulting in the high number of causalities.
In addition to the high death toll, 36 people remain in hospital with six of them in critical condition.
