ATHENS—Uncontrolled wildfires raged through resort areas near Greece’s capital, killing at least 60 people and injuring dozens more, in the country’s deadliest fire season in more than a decade.
Fires fanned by strong winds broke out Monday afternoon on both sides of Athens, ripping through pine forests and resort towns, and forcing hundreds of residents and tourists to flee to beaches, where they were picked up by coast guard and navy vessels and fishing boats.
The fires hit areas of widespread unregulated construction where narrow streets made it difficult to evacuate and may have contributed to the death toll. Greece’s Red Cross said the bodies of more than two dozen people believed to be trying to escape were found near a beach, some of them embracing.
Forest fires are common during Greece’s hot and dry summers, in part because of poor maintenance of forest, such as clearing brush, and weak zoning laws. Public spending cuts imposed during the country’s financial crisis have eaten into fire service funding and fire brigades struggle with aging equipment.
“The number of dead is rising,” said Evangelos Bournous, the mayor of Rafina, one of the towns hit by the fires. “It has already exceeded 60.”
Authorities said the number of casualties could rise significantly as rescue crews check scorched areas. In addition to the death toll, 94 remain hospitalized, including 23 children and 11 people in critical condition, a Greek health ministry official said.
The Red Cross said 26 bodies were collected Tuesday morning from a field where they appeared to have been trapped. Local reports said witnesses said there were other bodies roughly 3 feet from the beach.
“These people were found embracing as they were trying to escape,” the head of Red Cross Nicos Economopoulos told local media.
“It took people by surprise and it all happened really fast,” Ambulance Service deputy director Miltiadis Mylonas said. “The task we face now is organizing the identification of victims by members of their families.”
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday declared three days of mourning for the victims.
“The country is going through an unspeakable tragedy,” he said. “Today Greece is mourning. Nothing and no one will be forgotten. Nothing and no one will be left helpless without state assistance.”
The Supreme Court prosecutor ordered investigation into the deadly fires and Mr. Tsipras has said the government plans an investigation since so many fires at once has raised suspicions of illegal behavior.
The coast guard said a search-and-rescue operation is under way for 10 people, believed to be foreign tourists, who fled the fire in a boat and were missing.
Greece has been particularly hard-hit this year. Spain and Portugal, normally fire hot spots, have been relieved by a rainy spring and cooler summer temperatures. Spain has had one major fire as of July 15 compared with 10 during the same period last year, when dry weather conditions and high temperatures scorched the Iberian Peninsula.
The government in Lisbon has taken steps to prevent blazes before they spread after more than 100 people died in summer fires last year, including some trapped in their cars as they tried to flee. Lisbon has responded by increasing investments and trying to clear flammable growth.
The death toll in Greece is the largest since 2007, when fires burned in the southern Peloponnese for days, leaving more than 60 people dead.
Daybreak revealed hundreds of houses and cars charred and a large piece of forestland destroyed. The resort town of Mati, about 20 miles east of Athens, was completely destroyed.
“Mati doesn’t even exist as a settlement anymore,” one woman who managed to escape told local TV. “I saw corpses, burned-out cars.”
Greece requested international help through the European Union, while parts of Attica declared a state of emergency. Spain and Cyprus have offered assistance. Hundreds of firefighters from all over Greece were redeployed and the army was called in to help.
“Very saddened by the tragic forest fires in Greece,” the president of the European Council Donald Tusk tweeted. “Europe will stand by our Greek friends in these difficult times. Help is on its way from several EU countries.”
Mr. Tsipras spoke over the phone with several of his European counterparts and the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed their condolences and offered help, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
Fires were still burning in several locations near Attica on Tuesday morning and white smoke billowed from others.
Authorities said they would use an unmanned drone to monitor and track any suspicious activity such as arson.
On Tuesday, authorities said Athens International Airport, a main road and the Rafina port are operating normally after disruptions. Heavy rain is forecast for the Attica region starting on Tuesday afternoon and intensifying on Wednesday, which authorities hope will control the fires.
—Jeannette Neumann in Madrid contributed to this article.
Write to Nektaria Stamouli at nektaria.stamouli@wsj.com
Bagikan Berita Ini
