THOUSANDS of asylum seekers have spent a fourth night sleeping in the open on the Greek island of Lesbos, after successive fires destroyed a notoriously overcrowded migrant and refugee camp during a coronavirus lockdown.

Officials have said the blazes on Tuesday and Wednesday night were started deliberately by some camp residents who were angry over quarantine and isolation orders imposed after 35 people in the Moria camp tested positive for Covid-19.

With the camp gutted, Saturday morning found men, women and children sleeping under improvised shelters made of reed stalks, blankets and salvaged tents.

Thousands gathered for a protest demanding to be allowed to leave the island, gathering on a road blocked by police buses.

The demonstration was loud but peaceful, with mainly children and women at the front.