Arson suspected as a cause of forest fires that killed at least 82 in Greece: officials – National

Frantic parents headed to the Athens morgue on Thursday to search for the fate of relatives missing after the deadliest forest fire in Greece in decades, a fire that the Greek authorities suspected more and more. d & # 39; fire. The satellite image badysis and ground inspections provided "serious indications" that the fire that erupted in multiple places in a short time Monday and that killed at least 82 people was deliberately fixed.

The forest fires in Greece: hugging bodies found near the beach while the death toll rises to 74

"We have serious indications and significant results of criminal activity concerning arson "said Toskas. "We are troubled by many factors, and physical discoveries are the subject of investigation."

He declined to provide further details.

The special fire department of the fire department, which investigates all major fires, conduct the investigation to determine how the forest fires began. The cause of the fire has not been established. Prior to the Toskas press conference, the mayor of the region where he broke out said that "there could have been sparks from a broken electrical pylon cable

WATCH: The survivors of Greek forest fires share their stories

The fire rose on Thursday morning, when the fire department put the number of people killed to 82. The rescue teams and volunteers continued to search on land and at sea for more victims. Many bodies have been burned beyond recognition, making identification difficult.

At the morgue, parents were informed of the steps needed to match a body to a missing person, including DNA samples and dental records. "The procedure is difficult, more difficult than the other mbad disasters we have dealt with in the past as a department of forensics," said coroner Nikolaos Kalogrias. "Here, the main cause of death was burning, in most cases complete burning of the body, so identification is very difficult."

The German Federal Criminal Police stated that a team of forensic specialists was in Greece to badist the authorities. identify the dead. The team members worked on major disasters such as the Ueberlingen plane crash in Switzerland in 2002 and the Asian tsunami in 2004.

WATCH: Greece Calls for help while houses are in flames

near Rafina, northeast of Athens. Attracted by gale force winds, she went through full-time beach resorts and popular vacation homes with Athenians and tourists.

The great extent of the flames has complicated the process of identifying victims. Officials said that there was no way of knowing how many people were there at that time. Thursday afternoon, there was still no official number of missing.

Thanbadis Moraitis went to the morgue to look for her 90-year-old mother.

IN PHOTOS: Terrifying images capture the deadly fires of Greece

He tried to escape with his mother, wife, and 19-year-old son, but the fire was too fast. They had to abandon the car and started running towards the beach and in the water. Moraitis suffered burns in the leg from the heat of the air. "In the sea, there was a rain of fire, there was smoke, there was a wind of the Force 12", said the 53-year-old man, adding that the boats picked up the family . "I did not even have the opportunity to say goodbye to my mother," says Moraitis.

Fire Department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said that the search for victims was continuing and would not end until it was thoroughly investigated. Rescue teams could not enter homes that had not been destroyed and were closed, she added.

In addition to house searches, coast guards and volunteer divers searched the coast of the island. Hundreds of volunteers lined up at the Rafina Town Hall to offer all the help needed

WATCH: People evacuate by sea from the forest fires in Greece

During the fire, hundreds have fled to the nearby beaches. to the sea to escape the fierce flames and stifling smoke. Dozens spent hours at sea before being supported by Coast Guard vessels, fishing boats and a ferry. Several people died drowned.

The most affected area was the seaside community of Mati, where the majority of the victims were found, 26 of which were found together, many of which were entwined

. Her son, Maria Saridou, hoped that her 55-year-old sister, Eleni, was not one of the victims. She had swam with one of her friends to Mati, said Saridou, but the two parted in the chaos of the fire. She had not heard from him since.

"We found her car, she was not burned, not more than the house," said Saridou, 60. "It's just that we can not find her … I believe she's alive.Where she went, no one knows where she went."

Hundreds of homes were burned. The speed with which the flames spread has taken many people by surprise. The narrow streets of Mati, a built-up area without urban planning, quickly became crowded with parked and abandoned cars as people tried to escape, preventing fire trucks from entering and blocking the roads. ;evacuation.

to the shore by narrow paths, but get lost in the thick smoke or had their paths blocked by the rapid fire. Even those on the beaches were not safe because the flames were burning trees and vegetation at the edge of the water, while pine cones were blazing down, the survivors said. . Survivors said that they had been abandoned to do everything they could to save themselves

Firefighting and rescue efforts, especially air and sea, were hampered by high winds and rough seas. When Rafina 's fire broke out, the crews also fought a mbadive fire in the west of Athens that had exploded hours earlier and set fire to houses.

But the survivors accused the authorities of not properly preparing and evacuating the area.

WATCH: Drone footage shows the extent of the devastation of the Greek forest fires

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos visited Mati on Thursday morning and was heckled by men and women clueless women accusing the authorities of not acting "People are dead for nothing!" said a woman sobbing in front of the minister.

Local resident Giannis Kardiakos, who said he remained in the area until midnight, said efforts had been made to stem the blaze. and to save those who had fled to the beaches started too late.

"There was no protection, there was nothing! … I say things such as they were," he said, while Kammenos has detailed what the military and firefighters had done to fight the fire. "I'm not lying. We do not speak politically here, "he added, before bursting into tears.

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Thanbadis Stavrakis in Mati, Greece, and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Athens contributed to this report