The Athens Prosecutor’s Office filed four charges of misdemeanor against nine individuals – including Attica Governor Rena Dourou and mayors of regional towns – for the deadly flash flood in Mandra, western Attica, sixteen months ago in November 2017, which claimed the lives of 25 people.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the tragic flood’s case file is being sent to an investigating magistrate as a matter of high priority.

Athens Prosecutor of the First Instance, Sotiria Papageorgakopoulou, brought charges for flood due to negligence; homicide due to negligence committed repeatedly, by omission; bodily harm due to negligence by omission; and breach of duty by omission.

The prosecutor ruled that the following regional officials were responsible for the Mandra catastrophe: Attica Governor Rena Dourou and Attica Vice Governor Yiannis Vassiliou; Mayors of Mandra Ioanna Kriekouki, Elefsina Giorgos Tsoukalas, Megara Grigoris Stamboulos; two forestry chiefs of Egaleo and Megara districts, and other officials at the forestry departments of Egaleo and Megara.
The prosecutor considered the suits filed by individual citizens, agencies and associations against a total of 25 people, including the nine defendants.

Of the total of 25 individuals named in the suits, the prosecutor dismissed charges against five individuals while another eleven were proven to have no direct involvement or authority related to the Mandra flood.

The prosecutor’s office blamed the nine defendants for failing to take adequate measures to prevent the flood, including lack of flood protection measures; lack of mountain drainage works; urban planning violations; lack of supervision and conservation of water streams; and lack of sufficient delineation of streams.

The 66-page prosecutor’s report includes the conclusions of the findings of the auditing bodies that carried out on-site evaluations and specialized studies.

The Athens Prosecutor’s office says it is also conducting another investigation into the flood that hit Mandra in June 2018, this time focusing on liability of each competent authority to take immediate action in the seven months following the fatal November flood.