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Dozens of people were killed and dozens more injured after a forest fire swept a small resort near the Greek capital Athens, with huge flames that trapped families with children.
The fire affected Mati, 29 km east of the capital, Monday afternoon. It was by far the worst in the country since the flames devastated the southern Peloponnese peninsula in August 2007, killing dozens of people.
"I was informed by a rescuer that he saw the shocking image of 26 people tightly clasped in a field 30 meters from the beach," said Nikos Economopoulos, chief of the Greek Red Cross at Skai TV. "They had tried to find an escape route but unfortunately, these people and their children did not do it in time," he said. A Reuters witness also saw several bodies in the area.
The 26 dead add to more than 20 victims reported Tuesday by government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos. He said that more than 88 adults and 16 children were injured. One of the youngest victims was a six-month-old baby died of smoke inhalation
The Greek government declared the state of emergency and invoked protection agreements of the European Union to seek the help of its European peers.
On Monday, the Greek authorities urged residents of a coastal region in the west of Athens to abandon their homes. Another fire burned fiercely, closing one of Greece's busiest highways, stopping trains and sending plumes of smoke.
The Greek Coast Guard said the bodies of four people were recovered from the sea off Mati. In total, coastguards and other vessels rescued 696 people who had fled to the beaches. The boats ripped 19 more people out of the sea.
"Mati does not even exist as an establishment," said a woman at Skai TV, Greece. "I saw corpses, burned cars, I feel lucky to be alive."
Mati is in the Rafina area, which is popular with local tourists, in especially pensioners and children in summer camps.
"I have personally seen at least 100 houses in flames," said Evangelos Bournous, the mayor of the Rafina-Pikermi region. "I saw it with my eyes, it's a total disaster."
Nine coastal patrol boats, two military ships and "dozens of private boats" assisted by army helicopters were mobilized to help those who were stranded in the port of Rafina. Police said they found two Danish tourists in a boat off Rafina. There were still eight people missing from the group.
The surroundings of Athens were like a powder keg, according to the rescuers, after a dry winter and a summer heat wave where temperatures exceeded 40 ° C.
"We are dealing with something completely asymmetrical," Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after interrupting a visit to Bosnia.
Authorities deployed firefighters and equipment from all over Greece to deal with the fire. Small seaside resort located about 35 miles (54km) west of Athens on a road taken every day by tens of thousands of drivers to reach the Peloponnese peninsula.
A fire chief asked the people to leave the area Firefighters and soldiers are trying to extinguish a fire that is burning in the city of Rafina, near Athens "src =" https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c610fc1a337ab6ef328b9a7cf49ae8a1e5068e4e/0_140_3500_2100/master/3500.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=a20ef1eeeb6b4bde261b1f19e75b3f42 "/>
"People should leave, close their homes and leave, people can not tolerate so much smoke for so many hours," Achilles Tzouvaras said. "It's an extreme situation."
Strong winds fanned walls of gigantic flames extending up to four miles near Kineta, local officials said. Dozens of homes were reported to have been damaged or destroyed by the fire. Some domestic workers used watering hoses to extinguish fires while the police helped evacuate some areas.
The main highway connecting Athens to Corinth, one of the two roads to the Peloponnese peninsula, was closed and rail services canceled. 19659002] It is believed that hell began in a ravine in the mountains overlooking Kineta, which is a popular seaside resort among the Athenians.
Dozens of people died when fires lasted several days across the Peloponnese in 2007. People were killed in sudden floods in the Mandra region near Kineta.
