Thousands of migrants and refugees have fled the notoriously overcrowded refugee camp of Moria on the island of Lesvos after multiple fires gutted the majority of the site.

The fire started in the early hours of Wednesday leaving more than 12,000 people homeless.

The cause of the blaze which burned tents and containers was not immediately clear, a fire brigade official told the media.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called ministers to an emergency meeting about the fire, which comes just a week after the first cases of coronavirus were reported in the camp.

Nearly the entire camp, the largest in Greece, was on fire, including an olive grove outside the walls of the main compound where many slept in tents. People were seen escaping the camp, carrying their belongings.

Police cordoned off roads leading from the camp to prevent fleeing migrants entering nearby towns.

Thousands are now without accommodation, and authorities are struggling to find them shelter.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas has called the blaze a “humanitarian disaster” and tweeted about “the distribution of refugees among those willing to accept admission in the EU”.