Greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood
ATHENS: Greece was in mourning Thursday as rescue crews tried to locate several people missing in a flood that killed 15 people near the capital, as rain continued to fall.
Authorities said at least five people were still missing in Mandra, one of three towns some 50 km west of Athens hit by a freak flood early on Wednesday.
“It was like a tsunami,” Evangelos Kolovetzos, a local shopowner, told AFP.
Greece’s civil protection authority said heavy rainfall was complicating search and rescue efforts in Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, the semi-rural areas west of Athens submerged for a second day in reddish torrents.
“We are trying to deal with two torrents, one of which is still flowing through the center of Mandra,” a civil protection agency source said.
“A storm is underway and the operation is very difficult,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Twelve people are hospitalized, one in serious condition.
The poor weather is set to continue until the weekend, raising concerns for hundreds of people with flooded homes.
Flags at state buildings around the country were at half mast after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared a state of national mourning.
“At this time, declaring a state of national mourning over this great tragedy is the least we can do,” Tsipras said in a televised address on Wednesday.