HELL ON EARTH

At Least 74 Dead in Out-of-Control Greek Wildfires

More than 150 injured as a fire swept through a village east of Athens.

At least 74 people have been killed by wildfires near Athens, and more than 150 others have been injured as the blaze swept across Greece, the Associated Press reports. Many of the victims at the resort village of Mati were reportedly “trapped by flames” as they attempted to flee to a beach for safety. Over 700 were evacuated by sea throughout the night, said Merchant Marine Deputy Minister Nektarios Santorinios. The head of Greece’s Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, said the crew searching a seaside area northeast of Athens found 26 bodies, apparently families, huddled tightly together, many of them hugging. One woman told a news station that she saw “corpses [and] burned-out cars,” and said the village was completely destroyed. The fire in Mati was one of many wildfires in Greece caused by a heat wave, “destroying homes and disrupting major transport links.” Cyprus and Spain have offered assistance—the Spanish government has sent two amphibious planes to help fight fires.