"The
flames were chasing us all the way to the water," said one
victim.
Meanwhile,
the bodies of 26 adults and children who apparently died hugging each
other were found close to the sea.
As the
search for missing persons continues, a website has been set up to
help relatives trace their loved ones.
Hundreds
of firefighters have been battling the flames, which have been fanned
by winds of up to 60mph (100km/h) and have devastated the seaside
village of Mati, engulfing homes and vehicles.
Mati is
located in the Rafina region which is popular with local tourists,
especially pensioners and children attending holiday camps.
A number
of roads and evacuation routes were blocked by fire and footage of
motorists escaping the area shows them driving through thick smoke.
One
survivor, Nikos Stavrinidis, told ABC News that despite the
air-conditioning in his car, he could still feel the heat from
outside as he travelled on a highway.
"We
were driving along the road going into smoke, then all-of-a-sudden
the flames were at the side of the car," he said, adding: "All
the houses on the hill beside the highway were completely burnt out."
Dimitri
Piros, director of medical services for Ekav, Greece's nationwide
ambulance service, told the BBC that people had suffered horrific
injuries because of the speed of the fire.
Relatives
of those reported missing have been posting photographs on a website
in the hope of tracing their whereabouts.
It is
Greece's worst fire disaster since 2007, when dozens of people were
killed in the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras has also declared three days of national
mourning.
Full
report:
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