On the lovely tourist island of Hydra, two crew members of a Greek superyacht were taken into custody early on Thursday in relation to a forest fire that was allegedly caused by pyrotechnics that were fired from their ship.
According to the state news agency ANA, the two men—the skipper and first mate—were put under pre-trial custody following their early Wednesday and early Thursday testimonies.
Eleven other members of the crew were released on condition.
The Hydra firefighting crew claimed that the fire was started “by a fireworks launched from a boat” and that it destroyed the island’s only pine forest, which caused the fire to flare up last Friday.
There was further anger after it emerged that a group of wealthy Kazakh nationals who had chartered the superyacht were allowed to leave Greece without testifying.
Giorgos Koukoudakis, the mayor of Hydra, expressed his displeasure at “some people starting fires in such an irresponsible manner” to the public television station ERT.
Social media users were outraged by the news as well.
Greece has recently increased the severity of the penalties for arson; offenders now risk up to 200,000 euros in fines and 20 years in prison.
Authorities have issued warnings about the extremely high risk of forest fires caused by strong winds and high temperatures.
Last week, Greece saw its first heatwave of the year, with some areas reaching temperatures beyond 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).
Last year, a fierce two-week heatwave was followed by devastating wildfires in which 20 people died.
Scientists warn that fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length and intensity of heatwaves around the world.
