Wildfire claims life of grieving mother
ATHENS: A woman who lost her six-monthold baby in Greece’s worst ever wildfires last month died in hospital yesterday, the country’s health ministry said.
The 35-year-old woman, who was the wife of a firefighter called from their home on July 23 to fight the ferocious blaze, died of burn injuries, the ministry added.
The fires that ravaged coastal resorts near Athens has left scores dead, but conflicting official figures have spread confusion as to how many were killed.
Officials indicated last week that more than 90 people had died, but the toll has now been revised down to 88.
On Thursday, police said the bodies of 81 people had been positively identified, while two remain unidentified and five people have died in hospital.
Another 40 people including a child remain in hospital, nine of them in critical condition.
One person is still missing. Opposition parties have accused the government of failing to provide adequate warning and evacuate an area frequently hit by wildfires, in addition to subsequently trying to hide the scale of the loss of human life as the disaster unfolded.
Government officials have insisted that with winds blowing at speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour, there was little time to mount an effective evacuation.
The relatives of two people who perished in the fires have sued the authorities for negligence and exposure to danger.
The fires struck the coastal communities popular with holidaymakers, burning with
such ferocity that most people fled to the safety of the sea with just the clothes on their backs.