Greece: Wildfires kill at least 20 people in resort town near Athens, over 100 injured

At least 20 people died and more than 100 were injured as two forest fires raged out of control on Monday in Greece’s Mati village, a resort town around 40 km from the capital of Athens.

Most of the victims died either in their homes or their cars, BBC reported, quoting government spokesperson Dimitris Tzanakopoulos. At least 11 people were severely injured and 16 children were among those injured.

A search and rescue operation is underway for 10 tourists who fled one of the fires in a boat, BBC quoted officials as saying. “We will do whatever is humanly possible to control it [fires],” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said.

Greece has issued an appeal for help to tackle the fires, saying that it needed air and land assets from its European Union partners. Cyprus and Spain offered assistance.

Authorities urged people in Mati to abandon their homes on Monday after high winds caused the fire to spread rapidly, destroying properties and closing the main highway to Corinth city, reported The Guardian.

The fire in Mati village is by far the country’s worst since blazes devastated the southern Peloponnese peninsula in August 2007, killing at least 63 people. Monday’s fire was one of several that broke out in the country amid a sweltering heat wave, with temperatures rising above 40 degrees Celsius.

“Mati doesn’t even exist as a settlement anymore,” a woman told Greece’s Skai TV, according to Reuters. “I saw corpses, burned-out cars. I feel lucky to be alive.”

Nine coastal patrol boats, two military vessels and dozens of private boats, assisted by Army helicopters, were mobilised to help those stuck in nearby Rafina harbour due to the fire, reported The Guardian. Police said they found two Danish tourists in a boat off the coast from Rafina. Another eight people from the group were still missing.