Hellinikon mayor seen by authorities as culpable in freak playground death

A13 year old child was killed and his 9 year old sister was seriously injuredafter an accident in the inflatable pool of an amusement park in Hellinikon, in the south of Athens. Two weeks after the incident, the Internal Audit Service of Public Administration came up with an initial finding which charges the city's mayor with huge negligence.

In a country where similar public commissioned findings take more than a year to be completed, the fact that this one took only five days is an accomplishment in itself. It is also indicative of the urgency of the case, in which Administrative reform minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis intervened. The finding goes after unlawful actions concerning the licensing and functionality of the park.

Among its main points, the finding says that the lease of the amusement park was illegal, because it was offered to the owners with no biding process. Also, there was no license, or installation papers issued to the company owning the park by the City Hall, the area was almost 2,500 square meters long, while the lease was for 700 sq.m.

It also mentions that the City services were collecting the rent and yet made no effort to establish legality in the transaction, like asking the company to submit the necessary documentation. Additionally, given that there was never a legal license issued for the site, there was no inspection of the safety mechanisms in the amusement park. And if that wasn't enough, the park was receiving electrical power by the City illegally.

The finding goes on and on about City omissions, miscalculations and sloppy dealings with the company owning the park, which go back many years, since it's not the first time that this company had dealings with the Hellinikon City Hall.

The mayor keeps refuting the municipal responsibility over the accident and is still running for re-election. The next question is whether the judiciary will investigate the case and look for potential liabilities. Until that happens, the political question is how this finding -and the public outcry-, will affect the mayor's chances in the upcoming elections.