MATI, Greece (AP) — Rescuers intensified a grim house-to-house search Wednesday for more casualties from a deadly forest fire outside Athens, as the country’s military said it was using footage from U.S. combat drones and surveillance aircraft to try to determine whether arsonists were behind the blaze and stop future attacks.
Joint patrols of the Fire Service, army personnel, and volunteer rescuers discovered more bodies in the gutted homes near the port of Rafina east of Athens, raising the death toll to 83.
Nikos Giannopoulos stood with his wife and two children outside the destroyed home of his 88-year-old mother, waiting for news as rescuers searched each room.
They found her charred body in the bathroom.
Giannopoulos had searched the home earlier but failed to spot his mother’s body in the blackened interior.
Her remains were put into a yellow body bad and placed in a wooden coffin, and Giannopoulos vented anger that his mother had not been rescued as Monday’s ferocious wildfire raged down from the mountains and tore through vacation homes.
“She died helpless, an 88-year-old woman. I lost my nearby home in the fire, and my mother’s was burned too,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. “So many people died that it took the rescuers three days to find her.”
The fire forced hundreds to sprint to sea for safety, swimming out into the rough waters to avoid the suffocating smoke until they were picked up by boats after nightfall. Divers and coast guard patrols were still searching Wednesday for bodies at sea.
The mayor of the fire-ravaged Marathon area, Ilias Psinakis, said many residents only had a few minutes to save themselves.
He described losing his own home. “We could smell something burning. Then everything was gone in minutes. The wind came, then moved away, then came back again,” he said after a meeting in Athens with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, regional government leaders and public safety officials to discuss the relief effort.
Photo by Eurokinissi/Thanasis Dimopoulos.
“My house was lost but nothing happened to five or six cars parked outside. One had a broken mirror. That’s to give you an idea of what happened.”
Flags across Greece, including those at parliament, public hospitals and the ancient Acropolis in Athens, flew at half-staff after Tsipras declared three days of national mourning.
Fire-fighting planes from Italy and Romania and fire patrols from Cyprus joined the Greek effort on Wednesday, while Defense Minister Panos Kammenos announced that U.S. surveillance aircraft had also assisted in the firefighting effort and were gathering footage to try to determine whether Monday’s fire had been started deliberately.
Arsonists frequently target forests around the capital to try to clear more land for development.
A U.S. government official said MQ-9A Reaper drones currently based in central Greece had been used in the effort, along with U.S. Navy VP-10 and P-8A reconnaissance and patrol aircraft. The official asked not to be identified because details of the U.S. assistance had not yet been formally announced.
A burned sign is seen in Mati, east of Athens, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Rescue crews were searching Wednesday through charred homes and cars for those still missing after the deadliest wildfires to hit Greece in decades decimated seaside areas near Athens, killing at least 79 people and sending thousands fleeing. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Kammenos said the footage from the Greek and U.S. surveillance aircraft would be analyzed along with satellite images, and that preliminary findings suggested that the fire started at multiple points, which would now be examined on the ground.
Joint police and military patrols have been sent to the fire-stricken areas to deter looters and monitor nearby areas for potential arson attacks, he said.
“We will forward our findings to the Fire Service because they are ultimately responsible for the investigation,” Kammenos said. “But this had such tremendous force, powered by winds up to 110 kilometers per hours. … It jumped over a road as wide as a highway. When you have conditions like this, nothing can stop it.”
___
By COSTAS KANTOURIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS , Associated Press
Gatopoulos contributed from Athens. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens and Menelaos Hadjicostis and Boris Pilipenko in Rafina, Greece, contributed to this report.
OSLO, Norway — A gunman opened fire in Oslo's night-life district early Saturday, killing two people and leaving 10 seriously wounded in what police are investigating as a possible terrorist attack during the Norwegian capital's annual Pride festival.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
PHILADELPHIA – The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley announced that the Evzones, the Presidential Guard of Greece will be participating in the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade on March 20.
O oceanic you sing and sail
White on your body and yellow on your chimeneas
For you're tired of the filthy waters of the harbors
You who loved the distant Sporades
You who lifted the tallest flags
You who sail clear through the most dangerous caves
Hail to you who let yourself be charmed by the sirens
Hail to you for never having been afraid of the Symplegades
(Andreas Empeirikos)
What traveler has not been fascinated by the Greek islands, drawn by the Sirens’ song of a traveler’s dreams?
TNH and our video show ‘Mission’ marked the change of the season by transporting viewers into the heart of summer.
Sign up for a subscription
Want to save this article? Get a subscription to access this feature and more!
To purchase a gift subscription, please log out of your account, and purchase the subscription with a new email ID.
On April 2, 2021, we celebrated The National Herald’s 106th Anniversary. Help us maintain our independent journalism and continue serving Hellenism worldwide.
In order to deliver a more personalized, responsive, and improved experience, we use cookies to remember information about how you use this site. By Continuing to access the website, you agree that we will store data in a cookie as outlined in our Privacy Policy.
We use cookies on our site to personalize your experience, bring you the most relevant content, show you the most useful ads, and to help report any issues with our site. You can update your preferences at any time by visiting preferences. By selecting Accept, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more about how your data is used, visit our cookie policy.
You’re reading 1 of 3 free articles this month. Get unlimited access to The National Herald. or Log In
You’ve reached your limit of free articles for this month. Get unlimited access to the best in independent Greek journalism starting as low as $1/week.