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(MATI, Greece) – Rescuers on Wednesday intensified an investigation into the damage caused by a deadly forest fire in Athens, while the country's military said they were using images of combat drones and bombs. US surveillance aircraft to try to determine whether the arsonists were behind the fire and stop future attacks.
Joint patrols of the Fire Department, military personnel and volunteer rescuers discovered more bodies in the gutted houses near the port of Rafina in east Athens.
Nikos Giannopoulos was standing with his wife and two children outside the destroyed home of his 88-year-old mother, waiting for news as rescuers searched every room.
They found his body burnt in the bathroom. Giannopoulos had searched the house earlier but had not spotted his mother's body in the blackened interior.
His remains were put in a yellow body and placed in a wooden coffin, and Giannopoulos let out his anger. the other was not saved as Monday's fierce forest fire devastated the mountains and tore holiday homes.
"She died helpless, a woman of 88. I lost my neighbor's house in the fire, and that of my mother too was burned," he says, his voice cracking loudly. "So many people died that it took rescuers three days to find it."
The fire forced hundreds of people to throw themselves at the water safely, swimming in choppy waters to avoid the suffocating smoke that fell from the night, divers and coastguard patrols were still searching for bodies at sea on Wednesday.
Ilas Psinakis, mayor of the ravaged Marathon region, stated that many residents only had a few minutes to save themselves .. house. "We could feel something burning. Then everything was gone in a few minutes. The wind came, then went away, then he came back, "he said after a meeting in Athens with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, regional government leaders and public security officials. arrived at five or six cars parked outside.One had a broken mirror.It is to give you an idea of what happened. "
Read more : Photos show the magnitude of the devastation of the deadly fires of Athens
Flags across Greece, including those in Parliament, Hospitals Public and the ancient Acropolis of Athens flew half-staff after Tsipras declared three days of national mourning.
Italian and Romanian firefighting planes and Cypriot fire brigades Kammenos announced that US surveillance planes had also participated in firefighting and were collecting footage to try to determine if Monday's fire was deliberately fired
The arsonists frequently target the forests around the capital. A US government official said that MQ-9A Reaper drones currently based in Central Greece were used in this effort, as well as US Navy VP-10 and P-8A reconnaissance and patrol missions. the plane. The official asked not to be identified because the details of US badistance had not yet been officially announced.
Kammenos said that images of Greek and American surveillance planes would be badyzed with satellite images, and that preliminary results suggested that the fire
Joint patrols of the police and the army were sent to the devastated areas to deter looters and monitor neighboring areas for possible arson, he said. We will report our findings to the Fire Department because they are responsible for the investigation, "said Kammenos. "But that had such a force, fueled by winds up to 110 kilometers per hour … … it jumped over a road as wide as a highway." When you have conditions like that nothing can stop it. "
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