Greece wildfire toll touches 74
At least 74 people have died and 156 have been injured in forest fires raging near Athens, the Greek Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday.
Emergency services said that 11 of the injured were in a critical condition, while warning that the casualty toll was expected to rise as authorities continued to receive reports of missing people, Efe news reported.
Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos had put the death toll at 20 and said most of the victims were trapped in the seaside resort of Mati, 40km from here.
They died either in their homes or their cars while trying to escape after the fires began on Monday. There were 16 children among the casualties, the BBC reported.
Hundreds of firefighters were battling the blazes as people left their homes behind near the capital. Authorities urged people in the path of the flames to get out while they can.
A spokesman for the EKAV emergency service told radio station 24/7 that the dead included a 15-year-old girl and at least 11 of the injured were listed in critical condition at hospitals in the Attica region.
Greece declared a state of emergency and appealed to its European Union partners for assistance in dealing with the fires, Efe news reported.
In eastern Attica, some people on a beach threatened by the flames dived into the water. The coast guards told EFE that while 15 people were rescued, eight Danish tourists were reported to be adrift on a boat.
A search and rescue operation is underway for them.