Frantic search for missing in Greece

Relatives head to Athens’ morgue to provide DNA samples as rescue efforts continue

ATHENS: Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece’s deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens’ morgue, as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims of the blaze that killed 81 people.

Those arriving at the morgue were being informed of the necessary steps to match the missing and the dead, including providing DNA samples and dental records.

“It will be very painful, we will then have the identification ... the funerals, more pain,” the mayor of the nearby town of Pikermi said.

“I fear the number of the dead will increase.”

Maria Saridou arrived at the morgue in the Greek capital accompanied by her son to provide DNA samples.

They were looking for Saridou’s 55-year-old sister, Eleni, who had gone swimming with a friend of hers in Mati.

“We found her car, it wasn’t burnt, nor was the house,” said 60-year-old Saridou.

“It’s just that we can’t find her. I believe she’s alive.

“Where she went, nobody knows where she went.”

The friend her sister had gone swimming with survived with light burns to the foot, Saridou said, but they became separated in the chaos of the fire.

“We just want to find her,” said Saridou’s 25-year-old son Asot Kostoyan.

“Just to find her, nothing else.”

At least 187 persons were injured in the blaze, including 22 children. Initial inspections showed that more than 300 homes in the wider area were damaged, most of them beyond repair.

A long list of relief measures announced by the government was not enough to ease the pain of the survivors.

“A drop in the ocean,” read the front page of newspaper Ta Nea.

“This shouldn’t have happened, people perished for no reason,” a woman in tears shouted at Defence Minister Panos Kamenos, who visited Mati and nearby fire-stricken areas. “You left us at God’s mercy!”

The fire northeast of Athens in the area of Rafina, a seaside resort of permanent residences and holiday homes popular with Athenians and tourists, broke out on Monday and raced through the area, fanned by galeforce winds.

Hundreds fled to nearby beaches, with many swimming out to sea to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke. Dozens spent hours at sea before being picked up by coast guard vessels, fishing boats and a passing ferry.

Several of the dead were people who drowned.

The worst affected area was the seaside community of Mati, where the majority of victims were found, including 26 people found huddled together, many embracing.

Searches continued for more potential victims, with crews going house-to-house in the burnt areas, while coast guard and volunteer divers were searching the waters off the coast of the worst affected areas and a nearby deserted island. — AP/Reuters