At least 41 people have died in two violent fires raging in the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece, officials said Saturday, warning that the death toll could climb as the search goes on for more victims and fires continue to burn.
Hundreds of people were reported to have been trapped in the Peloponnese area by fires on several fronts in the south of the country.
They say a mother and her four children, who had been reported missing, are believed to be among the dead.
Firefighters warned Saturday that the toll could rise as they begin searching the affected zones on the
Peloponnese Peninsula for more victims. Deaths have been reported near the town of Areopolis and near Zakharo, on the west side.
“We are in a state of national mourning…. We must do whatever is necessary so this does not happen again,” said Greek President Karolos Papoulias, who was expected to visit the region on Saturday.
The country’s Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis held a crisis meeting in Sparta, in the southern Peloponnese, after touring the fire-ravaged area the day before, calling the situation “a national tragedy.”
The charred bodies discovered Saturday were found in “cars, houses and in fields” in the area surrounding the village of Zacharo, in the southwest Peloponnese where 11 fatalities were found Friday, firefighters said.
A recent three-day heat wave, in which temperatures have touched 40C, has left forests and shrub land parched, with flames fanned by the strong winds.
“It’s a Biblical catastrophe, the sight is horrible. I saw people burnt alive in their cars,” Christos Kafiras, the prefect of the department of Ilia, told the private Mega television channel Friday.
Some 19 planes and 18 helicopters have been deployed to fight the fires, while the army has sent 420 soldiers to reinforce the firefighters and has planes on stand-by if needed for rescue operations.
Responding to Greece’s call for help to the European Union, France said it was sending two water-dropping Canadair planes which were scheduled to land at Elefsis military airport late Saturday afternoon, the French interior ministry said.
In all, Greece on Saturday was battling 33 fires around the country, including 22 which have ignited since Friday night raising suspicions of possible arson, a fire services spokesman said.
“We are fighting a battle simultaneously on many fronts, under particularly adverse conditions,” said Karamanlis.
The government appealed to European Union countries to “send any help they can,” said Spyros Flogaitis, the acting interior minister, after an emergency meeting of Greece’s civil protection authority.
The Greek military has been called in to help firefighters.