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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 79 people dead and 187 wounded, according to a final official report.
The provisional record of forest fires that ravaged Monday evening the east coast of Athens, Greece, has been revised upwards by the authorities, to 79 dead . The announcement was made Wednesday by Stavroula Maliri, fire chief, who continue to search the ashes in particular in the city of Mati and Kokkino Limanaki, a district of the port city of Rafina. The devastating fires that have occurred in recent days are now almost all under the control of fire men. According to the Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Toskas, only a fire in the Gerania mountains, about seventy kilometers west of Athens, is still uncontrolled.
The balance sheet could still swell, according to the fears of local officials . Research is continuing in fully carbonized neighborhoods. Families of dozens of people have no news of their loved ones
Foreign Minister Didier Reynders tweeted Wednesday afternoon. He announces that two of the five Belgians who had no news are safe and sound. There are still three that have not been located yet.
Countries like Cyprus, Romania and Italy have sent on-site help, including planes and men. Cypriot Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, arrived on the scene Tuesday night to report on the situation. He pointed out, at the micro public service media, that climate change was the main culprit, recalling that global warming is far from being "fake news."
Described as a "national tragedy" by media of the country, the disaster occurred Monday afternoon: the fire broke out on the Mount near 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, Vassilis Andriopoulos.
" More casualties … "
" J ' I saw the flames in front of the window of the hotel, I thought it was going to explode, "said Alina Marzin, 20, a tourist from Wuppertal (Germany) who was in the hotel Capo Verde Mati Monday evening With his parents and brother, they were evacuated a few hours later and transferred to the port of Rafina aboard harbor police patrol boats.
A hundred firefighters, assisted by police and dozens of volunteers, continued the day of Tuesday the search for possible victims in this area of Attica drowned in the flames Firefighters have received "dozens of calls" from people looking for relatives, according to the spokesman of the service Stavroula Maliri.
Hundreds of Ministry Engineers Transport and the region have begun to record the damage.
"I'm afraid there are other victims and missing persons, especially the elderly," AFP told AFP. Rafina, Myron Tsagarakis
On 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 Affairs as well as 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 "have been evacuated as a precaution", according to a fire officials.
Influx of help
The country, which activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, is seen to offer help – notably in air assets – by Spain, France, Israel, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Macedonia, Portugal and Croatia, while messages of condolences
"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.
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