Greece: Romani girl caught in sliding doors dies due to shocking indifference of bystanders, her family sees it as racism
Greek media outlets published video footage online at the close of November from a tragic incident in which an eight-year-old Romani girl got stuck in the sliding door of a factory located in the Keratsini suburb of Piraeus, including the shocking behavior of about six or seven adults who watched her die before their very eyes. Security camera footage broadcast by SAR TV that same evening documents the unprecedented human indifference shown toward the girl named Olga, who died without anybody coming to her aid – likely on the basis of the factory management’s orders.
The footage shows one worker prodding the little girl with his foot to ascertain whether she is alive or not. At about 17:30 on 17 November she had been attempting to hide in the factory yard.
When she tried to leave, her body was slammed twice by the sliding metal doors to the facility, holding her stuck in place. Nobody came to her aid.
The girl tried to catch her breath for the next 20 minutes, but no one offered her any assistance. The footage shows a worker walking past her, averting his head and leaving.
After about a minute the same worker re-enters the frame, but instead of coming to the girl’s aid, he heads for the warehouse. The video shows him speaking into his mobile phone, walking by the girl once more, looking at her and then leaving again.
From the very beginning, two or three workers saw that Olga was stuck in the doors to the factory, but nobody came to her aid. The doors were finally released open at about 18:00 and she fell to the ground, at which point two workers approached her and leaned over her with flashlights.
The video shows those workers speak with each other and then leave the scene. The girl is abandoned by them, without assistance.
A vehicle also drives past her body. Immediately after that moment, workers told dectectives they were instructed to leave the location.
At 18:31 a truck arrives on the grounds, but it is not clear whether the driver sees the girl. At 18:34 the factory doors close again, with Olga stuck between them once more.
The medical report has ruled that the child’s death would have been slow and torturous. She was stuck between the metal doors and the wall for 70 minutes.
The heavy doors fractured Olga’s spine and she died of internal bleeding and suffocation. According to her family and their lawyer, all indications are that this incident was motivated by racism.
