Greece wildfires: 70+ Dead

Greek Prime
Minister Alexis
Tsipras on
Tuesday declared a three-day period of
national mourning after coastal wildfires
killed at least 70 and injured more than
180 in what experts are calling the worst
outbreak of fires there in more than a
decade.
Firefighters were struggling to gain
control of the wildfires, which were
spreading through the coastal city of Mati
about 25 miles east of Athens. Many of
the dead are tourists.
Greek Interior Minister Panos Skourletis
compared it to a “biblical disaster ,”
according to Sky News.
Even the beach wasn’t safe. One tourist
who was on the shore told the BBC,
“Thankfully the sea was there and we
went into the sea, because the flames
were chasing us all the way to the water.
It burned our backs and we dived into the
water.”
In one tragic location, 26 adults and
children died in a field about 100 feet
from the beach. Rescuers discovered their
bodies close together, as if they had
huddled.
“They had tried to find an escape route
but unfortunately these people and their
kids didn't make it in time,” Nikos
Economopoulos, head of Greece's Red
Cross, told the BBC. “Instinctively, seeing
the end nearing, they embraced.”
The combination of a dry winter and a
warm summer sparked the wildfires.
“Today Greece is mourning,” Tsipras said
in a televised address “And in the memory
of those who were lost, we call three days
of national mourning. On the other hand,
we must not let grief overcome us
because these hours are hours for effort,
for unity, courage and above all
solidarity.”