At least 20 people died and more than 100 were injured on Monday as a wildfire swept through a small resort town in eastern Greece with many victims trapped by flames as they fled.
The fire in Mati village, some 29 km (18 miles) east of Athens, was by far the country's worst since blazes devastated the southern Peloponnese peninsula in August 2007, killing dozens. Monday's fire was one of several that broke out in the country amid a sweltering heat wave.
Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said in a televised statement early Tuesday that the death toll exceeded 20 while more than 88 adults and 16 children were injured.
One of the youngest victims was thought to be a six-month-old baby who died of smoke inhalation.
A Reuters witness earlier saw at least four dead on a narrow road clogged with cars heading to the safe haven of a nearby beach. Dozens of people scrambled into the ocean as the blaze raged close to the shore, and they were picked up by passing boats.
As darkness fell, the extent of the disaster was impossible to gauge. We are dealing with something completely asymmetric, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, looking pale, said after cutting short a visit to Bosnia.
Greece issued an urgent appeal for help to tackle fires which raged uncontrolled in several places across the country, destroying homes and disrupting major transport links. Greece said it needed air and land assets from its European Union partners. Cyprus and Spain offered assistance.
0 comments:
Post a Comment