Greece counts its dead, at least nine enumerated, after fires around Athens

Athens – The Greek authorities were trying in the night from Monday to Tuesday to establish the human toll of the violent fires that ravaged the day around Athens, a macabre account provisionally established nine dead.
  

" With the advance of the relief, we risk to discover new victims, the night will be long ", affirmed to AFP a manager of the press service of the firemen.

Shortly before midnight, an AFP photographer first discovered three and then a fourth charred body under a car and a motorbike in the seaside resort of Mati, apparently the most affected, about 40 km away. is from Athens.

Two people found in the area, devastated by the flames since the afternoon, died earlier when they were transferred to hospitals, said the Ministry of Health Crisis Staff.

The port police announced that they had collected three bodies – a teenage girl, a woman and a man – on the port of Rafina, while two foreign tourists were missing.

The Ministry of Health has also revised upwards to 56, the number of injured, including 11 seriously.

Boats, including military buildings, mobilized to evacuate residents and tourists who fled the flames on the beaches and at sea flocked into the night Rafina, where many worried relatives, pressed by television channels.

In view of the situation, the presidency of the Republic canceled the annual reception scheduled for Tuesday to commemorate the restoration of democracy in Greece in July 1974.

– " Difficult night " – [19659003] " The time has come for the fight against the flames ," said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, after presiding over a crisis meeting, referring to a " difficult night " .

It costed " more than 600 " firefighters deployed on three fronts left in the day, two of which continued to progress in the night, around Mati and some 55 km to the west of the capital, near the town of Kinetta, along the highway leading to the Corinth Cbad.

But the night interrupted air operations, carried out earlier by eight planes and nine helicopters

According to the Secretary General for Civil Protection, Yannis Kapakis, fires were fanned during the day by winds blowing up at over 100 km / h, a " extreme situation ".

million. Tsipras cut short a move to Mostar, Bosnia, to return to coordinate operations.

Athens has also activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism to request reinforcements from its partners, and Cyprus and Spain have already offered badistance, according to Mr Kapakis.

According to TV images, the flames drove people on the roads in panic, and damaged many buildings.

" If I had not left, I would have burned " testified for Maria, a 67-year-old retiree residing in Mati. Attached to the phone by AFP, she said she had abandoned her two dogs to flee in time.

– Suspicions of Criminal Action –

Above Kinetta, the fire also burned homes and cars. Three subdivisions, mostly second homes, were evacuated and the municipality opened premises to accommodate their inhabitants.

The affected areas were covered all day with thick clouds of smoke, also covering the skies over the capital, while road traffic and power supply were disrupted.

The Prime Minister declared himself " concerned about the outbreak in parallel of these homes ". Deputy Minister of the Interior Nikos Toskas had earlier suggested that the fires could be of criminal origin.

The fires took place as a heatwave hit the country, with temperatures climbing to 40 degrees Celsius. According to the weather services, the conditions must remain difficult Tuesday.

Forest fires and maquis are recurrent in Greece in summer, especially in the green areas surrounding the capital. The last most devastating fires killed in 2007 in the Peloponnese and on the island of Evia 77 people, ravaging 250,000 hectares of forests, maquis and crops.