More Than 70 Dead By Fires In Greece

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A series of terrifying fires have devastated the Attica area, northeast of Athens, Greece, killing 74 people, including several children. This was announced by various sources this Tuesday.

The fires started near the towns of Mati and Rafina, located near the coastal area, causing hundreds of people to flee, some of them trying to escape by swimming or by boat.

According to The New York Times, winds of up to 50 miles per hour fanned the flames that quickly reached these towns, the first of which is popular with tourists during the summer season.

According to said source, 187 people were injured in said locality, 23 of them children. Likewise, the Reuters agency indicates that 696 people were collected from the beaches, 19 of them directly from the sea. Reports from multiple sources cite at least 47 fires in different parts of the region, 15 of them surrounding the capital.

According to witnesses, some of the fires started on Monday and spread rapidly to the towns. "Everything happened really fast," said Nikos Stradivaris, a father of a family who had to flee the flames by jumping into the sea. “The fire was in the distance, then sparks began to reach us. Then all the fire was around us."

The man explained that he and his family, as well as a group of friends, had to run into the water and start swimming, but that the smoke disoriented them and not everyone could be rescued. "We had to swim because of the smoke, but we couldn't see where everything was," said the man, who was rescued along with other survivors by a fishing boat two hours later. "We don't all go out," he said.

How the fires started is unknown, however, the Attica region is said to be experiencing a particularly dry season and grasses and shrubs pose a major risk to forest fires. As for the Athens fires, sources told the AFP agency that they could have been started by arsonists.

Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece, shortened the trip he was making to Bosnia to return to the country and asked for help from the European Union to fight fires and mitigate crises. The president also declared three days of national mourning. "This is a difficult night in Greece," he exclaimed late Monday.