The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Clean up launched after flash floods smash city
Greece: Death toll rises to 16 and four people still missing
Residents on the western fringes of Greek capital Athens have struggled to clean up the devastation from flash floods that swept through a day earlier.
The death toll from the incident rose as rescue crews recovered another body.
The number of deaths from Wednesday’s flooding increased to 16 after firefighters found the body of a man in the swamped basement of a home in the Nea Peramos district west of Athens.
Search-and-rescue operations were continuing yesterday for four more people reported missing since the floods turned roads into violent torrents of mud and debris.
The disaster was among the worst to hit the Greek capital in decades and the government declared a day of national mourning.
Flags across the country flew at half-mast yesterday.
The hardest-hit area was Mandra, a working-class district on the western outskirts of the capital. Authorities said about 500 homes and businesses were damaged.
Wednesday’s flash floods, which came after a severe overnight storm, carried away vehicles, collapsed walls, sank fishing boats and submerged a section of a major motorway.
Twelve of the 23 people injured remain hospitalised, including an 82-yearold woman listed as being in serious condition, the national health operations centre said.
Cars lay piled on top of each other or flung against buildings after being carried away by the torrents.
Some houses and businesses saw outer walls collapse, leaving the interior exposed to the elements.
More storms lashed the Greek capital yesterday, temporarily severing traffic on one of Athens’ main
“Disaster among the worst to hit the Greek capital in decades”
central avenues, although they did not cause flash floods.
Local municipalities were providing hotel rooms for those left homeless while the merchant marine ministry said it was making arrangements for a cruise ship to dock near the affected area to provide temporary accommodation.
Nearly all the injuries and fatalities occurred in Mandra and the surrounding area. Twelve of the dead were found there while the bodies of two men were picked up by the coastguard after having been swept out to sea.
The victims ranged in ages from mid-30s to 80s and included a truck driver swept away by floodwater.
Most of those who died had drowned, a coroner at the hospital told local reporters, while some appeared to have died from injuries sustained from debris being carried by the floodwater.