The death toll of deadly floods in the western suburbs of Athens has increased to nineteen dead on Saturday, following the identification of three new bodies, the authorities said.
Until Friday night, the flood report was sixteen dead and six missing.
“The bodies of three men discovered Saturday, aged 28, 58 and 35 years, were identified by their relatives (…) We are still looking for at least three people missing,” said Nikos Papaefstathiou, director National Operational Health Center Service.
Two of the three victims were rescued by the port police in the Gulf of Eleusis, near Mandra, one of three localities, affected by these floods following torrential rains.
“For one of the victims, stuck in the seabed, it was necessary to mobilize divers of the port police,” said a manager of the service.
In Mandra itself, rescue teams discovered the body of a person buried under the mud.
Desperation and desperation still reigned among the people of Mandra and Nea Peramos, where at least 2,500 houses and shops were totally devastated, according to local authorities.
The Athens City Hall and citizens’ associations distributed bottles of water and food to Mandra.
“It’s been three days that there is no shop open in Mandra, we have no water, we have not washed since Wednesday,” testified Friday Evanguelos Peppas, whose store suffered from important damage.
Most of the victims were drowned, swept away by water and mud, or stuck in their cars or in basements.
Some residents have called this phenomenon a “tsunami”.
The experts blamed the drama on the all-out urbanization of this semi-industrial agricultural area in recent years, as well as chronic shortcomings of the government services and the prefecture regarding flood prevention works.
