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Greece: believe that it was intentional fire that left 86 dead

Takis Tsafos – DPA

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In the burned areas near the capital Athens, relief forces found more casualties, bringing the number of deaths due to the fire was high in the last hours at 86, as reported by the Greek authorities.

At the same time, for the first time the Hellenic government reported possible causes of devastating fires, stating that they could be intentional.

"There are indications that lead us to this thought," said Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Toskas. The satellite images show that several fires have occurred along a street in the west of Athens in a very short time, he said.

"There are not only signs, but also signs of fire" more details not to hinder the investigations. Until now, there have been no arrests of suspects, he added.

Fires began on Monday, sowing destruction in large parts of cities like Mati, Neos Voutzas or Rafina, east of the capital Athens. The fire was aggravated by high temperatures and high winds.

Among the dead is a man from Ireland and another from Belgium, said state radio ERT. The situation has eased considerably on Thursday and there are more fronts of fire that threaten populated areas.

In the Athens area, all fires died out after the rains, state radio reported.

Flooding in the vicinity of Athens, affecting the entire district of Maroussi.

Dozens of cars parked in a temporary car park were damaged. "They were torrential rains but there are no casualties," said Giorgos Karameros, regional governor of North Athens, speaking on state television ERT.

There are still many missing persons whose research continues. "We are taking DNA tests from all the relatives of the victims and the missing and in the coming days we will have the results of the identification," said medical examiner Ilias Bojiokas

on television. words, they are "charred", so DNA tests are required. Police believe that just after the body identification will be clear the exact number of missing.

"We are going house by house," said a spokesman for the fire department on state television. Volunteers and soldiers contribute to the task. For the moment, there is no official list of victims and their nationalities.

The risk of forest fire for Thursday and Friday was described as "low and medium", reported the Civil Defense

Spain, Cyprus and Romania have reinforced the Greek operation and have also rained in some parts of the country.

According to an initial badessment of material damage, nearly 49% of the 2,489 dwellings badyzed by state engineers are uninhabitable. The controls will continue in the coming days. According to local authorities in the affected areas, there are still thousands of homes to study.

In the afternoon, the mayor of Penteli, Dimitris Stergiou, gave another version of the cause of the fires in the statements to the station. A broken power cord could have been the trigger for devastating fires in East Athens, he said.

"I saw a broken wire, it's there that it all started," said the mayor, who badured that the sparks that ignited the fire jumped from there. Penteli is located on the slope of a mountain above the destroyed holiday regions of the Attica region.

The investigations will probably last several months. In Greece, fires are often attributed to land speculators.

The government of Tsipras announced Wednesday night the aid to the victims and their families, including a one-time payment of up to 6,000 euros, two extraordinary payments for retirees and

By the As a result, there will be cheap credits for rebuilding destroyed homes, while a special account for donations has been opened for affected people.