Wildfires yesterday raged through seaside resorts near the Greek capital, torching homes, cars and forests and killing at least 60 people, authorities said, raising the death toll after finding 26 bodies believed to be family members huddled together, some of them hugging.
Many tourists and residents fled toward the coastline to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke.
Authorities evacuated more than 700 people by sea overnight, said Merchant Marine Deputy Minister Nektarios Santorinios, whose ministry is in charge of the Greek coast guard.
Photo: EPA
However, some did not make it to the beach.
The head of Greece’s Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, told Skai television that a Red Cross rescue team reported finding the 26 bodies in a compound northeast of Athens.
In all, the death toll stood at 60 by the afternoon.
“Everything happened in seconds,” said Andreaas Passios, who lives next to the compound. “I grabbed a beach towel. It saved my life. I soaked it, grabbed my wife and we ran to the sea.”
Passios said he and his wife stayed by the sea for two hours.
“It was unbelievable. Gas canisters were exploding. Burning pine cones were flying everywhere,” he said.
When the flames died down, Spyros Hadjiandreou came searching for loved ones.
“My niece and cousin were staying here on holiday. I don’t know if they made it out,” he said. “I don’t know if they are okay. I haven’t heard from them.”
The government declared three days of mourning over the disaster.
“The country is going through an unspeakable tragedy,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a televised address. “Today, Greece is mourning and we are declaring three days of national mourning in memory of those who perished.”
The two largest wildfires — one 30km northeast of Athens near Rafina, the other 50km west of the capital in Kineta — broke out on Monday during hot, dry summer conditions.
Fanned by gale-force winds that frequently changed direction, the flames spread rapidly into populated seaside towns — too fast for many who were in their cars or homes to flee, fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said.
“The police tried to direct us away from the fire, but we couldn’t escape it,” said Aleka Papariga, a former Greek Communist Party leader who lives near Rafina.
“We got stuck in traffic and the flames were on top of us. We managed to find a small gap and we made it out,” he said.
Rafina Mayor Evangelos Bournous blamed the winds.
“We were unlucky,” he said. “The wind changed and it came at us with such force that it razed the coastal area in minutes.”
Nineteen people were rescued at sea, some of whom had swum out to escape the flames, the coast guard said.
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said 715 people were evacuated from beaches and coastline by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.
The fire department said 156 adults and 16 children were hospitalized with injuries.
Eleven of the adults were in serious condition.
In all, 47 brush and forest fires broke out across Greece on Monday and early yesterday, with most of them quickly extinguished, the fire department said.
Ten were still burning late yesterday morning, including blazes in Corinth, Crete, and in central and northern Greece.
More than 400 firefighters and volunteer firefighters were battling the two fires near Athens, supported by seven water-dropping helicopters and three aircraft.
Greece sought international help through the EU.
Spain was sending two firefighting aircraft while, Cyprus was sending in 60 firefighters. Israel and Turkey also offered assistance.
It is the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade. More than 60 people were killed in 2007 when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.
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