[ad_1]
Firefighters on Wednesday were looking for people stranded in charred houses or cars in the vicinity of resorts in Mati and Rafina, east of Athens, ravaged by fires that left at least 74 people dead and 187 wounded, according to a final official report.
Described as "national tragedy" by the country's media, the disaster occurred Monday afternoon: the fire broke out on the nearby Mount Pendeli fanned by winds of 100 km / h quickly spread and invaded Mati, 40 km from Athens, burning hundreds of homes. Residents fled in panic towards the nearby beach where several of them had to stay more than an hour in the water to save themselves.
The country was in shock from macabre discoveries on Tuesday, especially the one on the same site of 26 charred people including "little children". "They were found entwined in groups, in a" last attempt to protect themselves, "said a rescuer, Vbadilis Andriopoulos.
" More casualties … "
" I saw the The fire in front of the hotel window, I thought it was going to explode, "said Alina Marzin, a 20-year-old tourist from Wuppertal, Germany, who was at the Capo Verde hotel in Mati Monday night with her parents and his brother were evacuated a few hours later and transferred to the port of Rafina aboard harbor police patrol boats.
A hundred firefighters, badisted by police and dozens of volunteers, continued the day's work. Tuesday searches for possible victims in this area of Attica flooded in. Firefighters have received "dozens of calls" from people looking for relatives, according to the spokesman of the service Stavroula Maliri.
Hundreds of engineers from the Ministry of Tra nsports and the region began to record the damage.
"I fear there are other victims and missing, especially the elderly," told AFP, a councilor of Rafina, Myron Tsagarakis
Tuesday evening, the government did not publish the number of missing persons.
These fires in Greece could thus exceed in victims those who killed 77 people in 2007.
Out of a total of 187 people hospitalized, 82 remained treated Tuesday evening of which ten are in a serious state and 11 children whose state did not inspire concern.
A Belgian was among the victims, according to Didier Reynders, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs as well a Polish woman and her son, according to Warsaw.
Flags at half-mast
The survivors spent hours of anguish in a cloud of ashes at the edge or in the water, waiting for help. At least six have drowned.
Some 715 people were evacuated by military or private boats to the port of Rafina.
"Today Greece is in mourning," said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, announcing, in a televised address to the nation, three days of national mourning. Flags will be half mast until Friday. The presidency canceled the festivities to commemorate Tuesday the return of democracy in Greece in July 1974. The Ministry of Finance has released 20 million euros "to meet the imminent needs of the town halls and citizens affected." The government spokesman also announced exemptions from the property tax for 2018 for affected citizens and families and compensation.
Pine tree town, Mati was the hardest hit because of "a fire in the urban fabric, "said Maliri. "Mati no longer exists", said the mayor of Rafina, Evangélos Bournous, listing "more than a thousand buildings and 300 cars" damaged.
Tuesday evening, in the area of Mati, "the fire evolved without active front, with scattered fireplaces ", according to firefighters. But another front resumed above Kineta, west of Attica, where there was damage on Monday but no casualties. Three new settlements in Kineta "were evacuated as a precaution", according to a fire officials.
Influx of help
The country, which activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, was offered aid – including air badets – from Spain, France, Israel, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Macedonia, Portugal and Croatia, while messages of condolence
"The European Commission will not spare its efforts to help Greece," tweeted President Jean-Claude Juncker. "The pain of the victims affects us all," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telegram to Mr. Tsipras.
The Pope announced "his deep sadness", while the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said the "solidarity" of the Alliance.
The government announced that it would take over the funeral, and tax measures for the victims. And the prosecution has opened an investigation into the causes of the fires.
Before a controversy engages the response of the state apparatus, the government stressed having to face an "extreme" phenomenon , "asymmetrical", according to Mr. Tsipras
Dimitris Tzanakopoulos noted that there were "15 simultaneous fire starts on three different fronts" in Attica.
The United States lent a drone to fly over the region and "observe and detect any suspicious activity", he added.
Source link
