VOLOS – The Volos public prosecutors’ office has ordered an urgent preliminary investigation into what caused so many fires to start simultaneously in Magnesia, as well as their unusual extent and intensity, which caused massive damage to the environment, buildings, industrial facilities and crops, as well as the deaths of two people.

There are strong suspicions that the simultaneous start of so many fires was the result of deliberate arson and organised criminal action, rather than accidental acts of negligence.

Thessaly governor Kostas Agorastos intimated as much in statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency when the fires began, saying: “We are certain that these are acts of arson. It is impossible for fires to start simultaneously in six different locations at the worst possible moment, due to the heatwave and prevailing gale-force winds.”

The investigation will examine all the facts and summon all those that spoke of arson, such as the governor, to give evidence.