Crete tourist guide

Expertise in Samaria in the context of a scandalous decision

2024-09-22 20:19:05

The case of the fatal accident in the Samaria Gorge, which occurred on Wednesday, September 18, has not died down. Today, it was also reported that the head of the fire department and the coordinator responsible for, among other things, the Crete region made a scandalous decision, which could have exposed three firefighters to very serious danger.

As we wrote in our last two news stories, on September 18th around noon, after sudden heavy rainfall, a rock slide occurred in the area of the Iron Gate. One of the large fragments severely injured a tourist who was on the crossing at the time. Unfortunately, the woman's life could not be saved, because she died of hemorrhage a few dozen minutes after the accident. The remaining tourists were evacuated from the gorge as quickly as possible.

Since the fatal accident, Samaria has been closed to visitors. Services are working to check the stability of the terrain. Repairs are also being carried out to repair damage caused by the downpour and landslides.

On Friday, the entire trail was inspected, while on Saturday, the Iron Gate was inspected, the place where the storm surprised the tourists and where the fatal accident occurred. This is the narrowest point in Samaria, located at the end of the trail. The distance between the rocks in this place does not exceed 3 meters, and their height is about 100 meters. Due to the difficult access to the rocks, the inspection was carried out using a helicopter. The report prepared after the inspection shows that there are landslides of various sizes here, but the final assessment of the collected data is still to be awaited. Until then, the gorge is to remain closed to tourists.

According to scientists studying the rocks in the gorge, the geomorphology of the terrain causes sudden changes in temperature, which favors both the cracking of rocks and the development of violent storms. Initial forecasts for this area predicted a rainfall of 1.7 mm on Wednesday, but in the end, as much as 88 mm fell in one hour. The fragile and unstable rocks of the canyon pose a threat to people in many places on the trail. Warning signs can be found at many points, but it is particularly dangerous at Żelazne Wroty, where the rocks are very high. Experts believe that carrying out security work in this place, such as that carried out in other lower parts of the route, is extremely difficult or even impossible.

Scandalous decision

Today, however, a controversial decision issued to the employees of the Fire Department in Chania has come to light. Let us recall that there are no mountain rescue services in Crete such as GOPR or TOPR. All rescue and search operations are carried out primarily by the Fire Department. According to information from the Flashnews.gr website, three employees of the Fire Department were ordered by the coordinator on Wednesday evening at 6:40 p.m. to cross the gorge to check if there were any tourists in the Samaria National Park. Earlier, however, officials had already informed the Fire Department that there were no more hikers in the gorge. All people leaving the area of Samaria were counted. The last few tourists who did not manage to leave the gorge that day were escorted to the abandoned village of Samaria, where they spent the night.

Despite this information, a senior Fire Department official coordinating the operation ordered three workers to check the ravine. Given the late hour, the approaching sunset, and the conditions after the storm, this was a very risky decision. The trail was still wet and slippery, and there were still landslides. In response to any concerns, the firefighters were told to put on their helmets.

Ultimately, the men carried out the order, even though it was not their duty and they had no prior training to carry out such a mission. As they emphasize, the conditions in the gorge were as dangerous as they had anticipated. The firefighters left Samaria only before midnight and emphasize that at the end of the trail they heard falling rocks, so they had to start running to find shelter under the trees.

Today, the Chania Prefectural Fire Department Workers' Union sent a letter of complaint to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and the management of the Fire Department about an irrational, illegal and reckless order issued without a valid reason. "A firefighter is not a lamb to the slaughter. He has a family waiting for him to come home after his service," the letter concluded.

Gosia,  2024-09-22 20:19:05

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