In Greece, forest fires kill dozens in the deadliest

ATHENS – Rapid shootings near Athens have left at least 50 dead, officials said Tuesday, and forced thousands of tourists and residents to flee into cars and buses, on foot, aboard boats and makeshift rafts. In desperation, some people were diving in the Aegean waters and trying to swim safely.

Force winds of 50 miles at the time fanned fires that crossed popular seaside areas with travelers, leaving behind a trail of charred. seaside resorts, burned cars and steaming farms, and enveloping the region in a mantle of smoke. Authorities said at least 173 people were injured, including 16 children, and 11 wounded were in critical condition.

Many escape routes were blocked and people who managed to escape by road had to drive sometimes, with walls of flames jumping through the trees a few meters away .

Vaios Kirkiakis, at his home in Rafina, a port city, felt the fire late Monday afternoon and at 8 pm, his wife and twelve years old … the old son was fled, taking only money and waterproof jackets with them. They did not know when they would see their house again.

"The flames rose like tongues, tongues of fire that engulfed one house after another," said Mr. Kiriakis, 50, a high school fitness instructor. interview. "Then you could hear explosions, and it was like we were at war, you could see the fire coming at you at high speed, and you can do nothing but leave." 19659002] Contemplating the horizon and trying to determine what was in flames reminded him to watch the election of a pope. the smoke coming out of the sky was black, we knew that a house was burning, "he said. "When it was white, we knew it was trees and plants."

Greek emergency services were at full capacity, with more than 600 firefighters and 250 firefighters deployed at the sites of the two largest fires in and around Rafina. About 15 miles east of Athens, and Kineta, about 30 miles to the west of the capital.

The entire fleet of seaplanes of the country was deployed on Monday, the army sent specially trained units for fire prevention patrols. In a 24-hour period ending Tuesday morning, 47 new fires broke out, but all but four were quickly extinguished, said Stavroula Maliri, a spokeswoman for the National Fire Service. Government officials and others have speculated that some fires have been deliberately planned

Europe has had an unusually hot and dry summer, breaking records of temperature and fueling major fires in several countries, including Sweden and Great Britain. In Greece, fires have devoured entire cities, residents said, and authorities warned that the death toll will increase as emergency workers clean up homes and burned cars, in which some evacuees were reported. trapped. Fifteen people were reported missing.

"Unfortunately, at this point, we do not expect to see more wounded, only more deaths," said Miltiades Milonas, vice president of the Greek ambulance service. After visiting Mati, a coastal village that was devastated by fire, he said, "Seeing the extent of the devastation, and going from home to home, things are not going well."

Mati, Nikos Stavrindis and his wife, along with four friends, tried to swim safely, but two of their groups drowned, he told the Associated Press. A fishing boat rescued the survivors after about two hours in the water.

"It happened very quickly, the fire was in the distance, then the sparks of fire reached us, so the fire was around us," he said. "We ran to the sea. We had to swim because of the smoke, but we could not see where something was."

He said the group swam away from the shore to escape the smoke but they were swept away by the wind and the current. disoriented. "We did not all do it," he said.

The president of the Hellenic Red Cross, Nikos Economopoulos, said that 26 of the dead had been found in a field near Mati, north of Rafina. Some were locked in a hug, he told Greek public television.

"Mati does not even exist as a settlement," said one resident at Skai TV. "I've seen corpses, burned cars, I feel lucky to be alive."

Crowds of people filled the waterfront of Rafina, where the intense wind, the heat and the fly ash made conditions miserable. They had fled in front of the flames, were thrown by lifeboats, or had landed ferries coming back from the islands – and they had discovered that for a time, at least, they could not go anywhere else.

The Stavrindis family, who returned home on Tuesday morning and found it intact, the fire having arrived a hundred meters away

The roads leading to Athens were smothered by the inhabitants who were trying to escape , preventing rescuers from reaching fires. Penned by the flames, some watched the sea escape, strolling on fishing boats, putting anything that could float or dive into the sea.

The Coast Guard said to have recovered the bodies of at least four Twelve Coast Guard vessels, aided by thirty private boats, rescued 710 people who were trapped at Mati and near Kokkino Limanaki, and fired dozens of other people from the sea, according to Nektarios Santorinios. 19659004] Greek television channels aired the dramatic escape stories of survivors. Aleka Papariga, former leader of the country's communist party, who was on vacation at Mati, said she was out "just in time". She said that the field where the fire broke out was lined with rocks and precipices, limiting the possibilities.

On Monday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras interrupted an official visit to Bosnia because of the fires, and on Tuesday he announced three days of national mourning for the victims.

"It's a tough night for Greece," Mr. Tsipras said. "We are dealing with something completely asymmetrical."

Forest fires are an annual occurrence in Greece, but a recent drought and heat wave, with temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, have contributed to making the country's deadliest fire. season in more than a decade. Sixty people were killed in a fire that swept through the Peloponnese region in 2007.

The fires here have bypassed Athens, leaving unscathed the ancient ruins of the city. A blaze could, however, be seen from the capital, ashes fell on the city, and a veil of smoke obscured the sky.