In Greece’s tragedy, at least 76 people were killed by wildfires that swept through a resort, trapping people in cars and on the edge of cliffs as others were forced to jump off to survive.
The scale of Monday night’s devastation in Mati became apparent at first light on Tuesday. Scores of gutted cars lined streets in the coastal town, east of Athens, melted by the intensity of the heat. Bodies lay on roadsides, some locked in an embrace as the flames closed in.
Over 1,000 houses were destroyed, while hundreds of cars were unusable in Mati. According to the Fire Department, 47 fires broke out in the country over the last 24 hours; 15 out of the total were around Athens.
While Tsipras government is being criticized because of the negligences, an outrageous reaction came from Greek Orthodox Church bishop Metropolit Amvrosios.
“GREECE IS DAMAGED FROM FIRE”
Amvrosios claimed that the wildfires were the wrath of God for an atheist prime minister. “Atheist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras draws the wrath of God,” Amvrosios writes in capital letters his blog on Tuesday afternoon and adds “Greece is damaged from rain and fire!”