The summer months in Greece came with a devastating death toll this year as the Athens forest fires have destroyed three villages near the capital with firefighters still struggling to control some of the fires raging in the surrounding hills.
People were forced to flee into the sea, leave their belongings behind and watch their worldly possessions go up in flames.
Though the helpfulness amongst neighbours is great, many are angered by the slow response from a mostly bankrupt government.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The death toll from a fire which ripped through Greek coastal town Mati stands at 80, with dozens of people unaccount-ed for, as Greece reeled from the horror of victims burned alive. <a href="https://twitter.com/Rob7Scott?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Rob7Scott</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mati?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mati</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7News</a> <a href="https://t.co/hDKJNTe3wz">pic.twitter.com/hDKJNTe3wz</a></p>— 7 News Syd-ney (@7NewsSydney) <a href="https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/1022208143151906816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The official death toll stands at around 80, but with some 70 still missing no one doubts it will top 100 tomorrow. Devastating scenes are shown on European news channels of parents and their children found together, hugging each other’s charred bodies to try and guard them from the flames. Cars were engulfed in the flames and melted in the streets.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am not going to post the death we saw…<br>Just know one thing: I ve been in many fires all these years. This one is the worst… its horrible… <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreeceFires?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GreeceFires</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Greece?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Greece</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rafina?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rafina</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mati?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mati</a> <a href="https://t.co/A1q9eimADo">pic.twitter.com/A1q9eimADo</a></p>— Liana Spy-ropoulou (@LSpyropoulou) <a href="https://twitter.com/LSpyropoulou/status/1021681581969342464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The local government near Mati, the village near Athens the hardest hit by the catastrophe, set up a website where relatives can enquire about their loved ones.
Mr Nikos Stavrinidi, who was able to escape the flames with his family, said: "We were driving along the road going into smoke, then all-of-a-sudden the flames were at the side of the car."
"All the houses on the hill beside the highway were completely burnt out."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">30 cars in a row torched by fire at Mati, east of Athens <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Greece?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Greece</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%CE%A0%CF%85%CF%81%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Πυρκαγια</a> <a href="https://t.co/PUGiVlnWQa">pic.twitter.com/PUGiVlnWQa</a></p>— Derek Gato-poulos (@dgatopoulos) <a href="https://twitter.com/dgatopoulos/status/1021735345669529600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The worst scene so far was that of 26 bodies found together in a building, unable to escape the flames.
Mr Nikos Economopoulos, head of the local Greek Red Cross, stated: "They had tried to find an escape route but unfortunately these people and their kids didn't make it in time. Instinctively, seeing the end nearing, they embraced."
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