Europe

Bodies of 18 People Found in Area Devastated by Wildfires, Greek Authorities Say

TRAGIC

Officials are looking into the possibility that the victims may have been migrants.

A firefighting helicopter flies away after a water drop as a wildfire burns near the village of Avantas in the region of Evros, Greece, Aug. 21, 2023.
Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters

The bodies of 18 people have been discovered in Greece in an area reduced to ashes by wildfires, local authorities said Tuesday. The human remains were found near a shack close to the village of Avantas in the northeastern Alexandroupolis region, which is close to Greece’s borders with Turkey and Bulgaria. Ioannis Artopios, a spokesperson with the local fire department, said in a televised statement that Greece’s Disaster Victim Identification Team is now working to identify the victims. Artopios added that, as there were no missing persons reports filed in the area, authorities are considering the possibility that the deceased were migrants who had crossed the border from Turkey.

Read it at Associated Press