More than 200 houses destroyed by Attica fires

More than 200 houses have been completely destroyed by the devastating wildfires that ripped through a coastal town east of Athens this week killing at least 81 people, according to data collected by engineers from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport who have started recording the damage to buildings.

Crews dispatched in Rafina, Mati and Neos Voutzas have so far checked 720 homes and determined that 211 of them are uninhabitable, along with three stores and eight warehouses. Another 234 houses are badly damaged and will need repairs.

More than 125 burned out cars have been removed by crews to free the streets in Mati.

The mayor of Rafina and Pikermi, Vangelis Bournous, estimated that 50 percent of the town of Kokkino Limanaki has been charred and 98 percent of Mati – the town where most fatalities were recorded.

In a separate fire still raging in Kineta, a beach town west of Athens, 139 homes have been destroyed by the flames but are expected to increase to about 200, according to Megara mayor Grigoris Stamoulis.