'I'll build it again': Greek sculptor on his fire-gutted studio
Vangelis Ilias was returning from holiday on Monday (August 12) when friends called to tell him the unthinkable. A wildfire in forests north of Athens had suddenly descended on his suburb and was approaching his sculpture workshop. - REUTERS
Transcript
00:00They called me and said the workshop was on fire.
00:13They said there was a fire and shortly after that the workshop was burning.
00:25I'll roll up my sleeves and get to work to set it up again.
00:28I will tear it down and build it up again.
00:32The plots of land behind were not cleared of dry grass, although I had complained to
00:36them.
00:37And from there the fire came, it reached the plots, their warehouse, then it jumped over
00:41to mine and burnt it down.
00:44From here it went next door and then to the house next to it.
00:49Life has shown me many times that this is what I must do.
00:53I fall and then I rise.