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Athens – The death toll from a fire that devastated a Greek coastal city reached at least 81 Wednesday as frenzied parents tried to track down missing persons from hell and that officials were starting to identify the bodies
Hundreds of people were trapped in the resort of Mati on Monday night, while the flames surrounded them. Many jumped into the sea to survive, but others died of suffocation, either in their cars or trapped at the edge of steep cliffs.
The Irishman Brian O 'Callaghan-Westrop, the ambbadador of Ireland to Athens Orla O. Hanrahan told Ireland RTE. The broadcaster said he was on a honeymoon
and his wife Zoe, who survived, was married last week.
The Greek antiterrorism service was investigating suggestions that the fire – one of several in the whole region of Attica – was started deliberately, said a security source. It is often believed that arson is behind some fires in a rude attempt to clear forest land for construction.
Firefighters said that the death at the hospital of a person who had originally survived carried the toll to 81. The service also received Dozens of calls reporting missing persons, but it was not clear if some of them were among those who had already been found dead, said a spokesman.
People came on television to ask for help. ", Said a young woman at SKAI TV between two sobs
The fire broke out Monday at 4:57 pm. (1357 GMT), an hour that is observed as a nap time in rural Greek communities. Mati was popular with local tourists, including retirees.
CHALLENGE
Rescue teams raked Wednesday the area and the sea trying to locate anything that could clarify the missing.
"We took our cars and went to the sea to escape, but there were people who did not," said Agni Gantona, a resident of Mati.
We stayed at the beach with about 250 to 300 people
"Some were burned, some were close to fainting under the effect of smoke and flames. Groups of us were holding hands and shouting names because we could not see from the smoke. "
Most of the corpses being severely charred, the identification of the dead will be difficult.
" Work has begun on the identification of the victims of the fires, but the majority of the bodies are totally charred " , told Reuters Grigoris Leon, head of the Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine
.Some suggest that the strength of the winds, thick pine forest, fire and panic were a lethal combination making the futile plan evacuation most executed
"Armaggeddon", wrote the newspaper Ethnos on his first page
He carried a picture of a burned Greek flag hanging among the branches of a tree calcined.
Reuters
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