Greece's Tsipras takes responsibility for fire disaster

By Furkan Naci Top

ATHENS

Greece's prime minister on Friday took political responsibility for the deadly wildfires that ravaged the country this week.

“I have called you here today first of all to take full political responsibility for this tragedy in front of my Cabinet and the Greek people,” said Alexis Tsipras.

Tsipras added that he wonders whether they did the right thing or not, underlining that they cannot escape their responsibilities as Greece's leader and government.

He said that the government is going through its bleakest hour and that it is their duty to tell the truth for the sake of the dead.

“If we need to take out the bulldozers and fight, we will not wait for the next tragedy,” he said about years of illegal house-building along Greece's coastline.

The wildfires, the deadliest in the country’s recent history, left at least 85 people dead, and destroyed more than 1,000 houses.

*Dilan Pamuk contributed to this story in Ankara