People stand in the sea near to cars parked on the beach to protect them from the fire in the town of Mati, east of Athens, Monday, July 23, 2018. Regional authorities have declared a state of emergency in the eastern and western parts of the greater Athens area as fires fanned by gale-force winds raged through pine forests and seaside settlements on either side of the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
MATI, RAW – The charred remains of at least four people have been seen on the streets of a small coastal village in Greece as the country makes urgent appeals for help to tackle raging forest fires that are burning out of control.
Witnesses have told Reuters they saw the remains of four victims in the village of Mati, which lies east of Athens, on Monday night, with one other person also confirmed to have died east of the capital.
Authorities are also investigating reports that up to 10 tourists, possibly Danish, are missing after heading out on a boat to escape to blaze.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras cut short a visit to Bosnia as the crisis stretches Greece’s firefighting abilities to full capacity.
“We will do whatever is humanly possible to control it,” said Tsipras.
“I’m concerned at the simultaneous outbreaks both east and west of Attica,” he said.
Greece said it needs air and land assets from its European Union partners as the Attica region was engulfed in some of the worst fires the country has seen since 2007, when dozens of people died. Cyprus has already offered to send fire engines and personnel.
Fires were raging west of Athens, and in a densely-populated area to its east. In the eastern area of Rafina, some people were stranded on a beach, while boats were picking up individuals who had jumped into the water to protect themselves from the blaze.
The army was drafted in to help on Monday afternoon and some flights, mainly landings, were disrupted due to poor visibility.
More than 200 firefighters and 60 engines have been deployed from across Greece to deal with the massive blaze at Kineta, a small resort town about 54km west of Athens on a route tens of thousands of drivers use daily to reach the Peloponnese.
A senior fire chief went on state TV to appeal to people to leave the area after some tried to stay in their properties.
“People should leave, close up their homes and just leave. People cannot tolerate so much smoke for so many hours,” Achilleas Tzouvaras said. “This is an extreme situation.”
