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Minister orders demolition of northern Greece village after PPC mine collapse

Minister orders demolition of northern Greece village after PPC mine collapse

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis on Sunday ordered the demolition of Anargyroi, a village in northern Greece that suffered extensive damage when a lignite mine used by Public Power Corporation collapsed on Saturday.

About a dozen houses suffered large fissures in the village, which is located some 3 kilometers from the mine’s outer perimeter, when an estimated 80 million cubic meters of earth shifted in the collapse.

All of the village’s 182 inhabitants were evacuated on Saturday night and put up in hotels while authorities assessed the extent of the damage to Anargyroi, which was eventually condemned on Sunday.

Crews have been dispatched to the damaged homes to retrieve household appliances and valuables that residents hope to salvage.

The mine was shut down on June 3 amid stability concerns, but PPC officials were quoted by the Associated Press as saying they did not expect a collapse of this magnitude.

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