James Warren
FIRE has ravaged a migrant camp in Almeria’s ‘Sea of Plastic’ leaving over 200 workers homeless and 500 unable to return to the site.
The fire began at around 10pm on Saturday in a shanty town in the Barranco del Búho area close to the town of Nijar.
The fire spread quickly, thanks to the plastic roofs on the mostly brick built accommodation and within an hour had destroyed most of the upper part of the encampment.
Thankfully only one man was injured with burns to his hands and was treated on site by health workers.
50 vehicles were also damaged according to the Guardia Civil statement.
Approximately 1,200 workers were said to have been present on the camp at the time of the fire, mostly from Morocco and Sub-Saharan regions.
The upper part of the camp housed 700 workers, with the lower part unaffected and currently being used to help treat those affected.
“Many of them have lost everything they had,” said one of the NGO workers that were helping care for the displaced workers.
“The problem is not only for those who have been left without a place to live, but also for their 500 neighbors, who can not sleep here either because the smoke and soot have left their shacks unlivable”
According to the NGO statement, among the homeless are many minors that were living with their parents on the site.
The Guardia Civil are now investigating the cause of the fire and the Almeria Acoge Association are working to find homes for the workers and their families.
Yesterday, the Olive Press took a deep dive into Almeria’s ‘Sea of Plastic’ and the humanitarian and environmental impact on the country of the 31,000 hectare agricultural ‘landmark’
