Greece heatwave latest: New fire ‘every ten minutes’ amid hunt for arsonist and search for missing American
Searches ongoing for two French women and a retired US deputy county sheriff in Cyclades
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The Greek authorities are investigating whether wildfires that threatened to engulf Athens were sparked by a single arsonist.
Civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said officials verified indications that the fire near Athens was the result of arson as well as extreme weather conditions.
A fire service spokesman has said the force is struggling to deal with the spate of blazes, adding: “Almost every 10 minutes a new fire breaks out.”
In Koropi, a storage facility and at least one home were burned, and flames crept into a boat dry dock and across fields of dry grass and olive trees. Authorities evacuated two nearby villages.
Amid the heatwave, several foreign tourists have died or gone missing while hiking in high temperatures. The girlfriend of a missing American tourist has criticised Greek authorities for allegedly doing little to help search for him.
Albert Calibet, 59, has been missing since last Tuesday while hiking on the island of Amorgos.
At least five tourists have been found dead on the Greek Islands in recent weeks.
Have you been affected by this? Email barney.davis.ind@independent.co.uk
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As concerns continue to grow for missing tourists in Greece, rescue efforts have been launched in the Spanish island of Tenerfie after a British teenager went missing on Monday.
Jay Slater, 19, from Lancashire, was last heard from at 8.15am as told a friend he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.
His friend Lucy – who had gone to the island with him to attend the NRG music festival – told the Manchester Evening News (MEN) that Mr Slater had gone to stay with people he had met on holiday after a night out.
She said she had received a call from Mr Slater as he was trying to walk back, although he had said he was lost, needed a drink of water and had only 1% battery on his phone.
His phone then cut off, with his last location showing as the Rural de Teno park – a mountainous area popular with hikers.
His family have now flown to the location and have launched a Facebook group to help with the search.
Girlfriend of missing hiker criticises Greek authorities search efforts
The girlfriend of a missing American tourist has criticised Greek authorities for their search efforts, accusing them of acting on the bare minimum to find her partner.
Albert Calibet, 59, has been missing on the island of Amorgos since last Tuesday after setting off for a four-hour hike. An experienced walker, the former deputy at LA Sheriff’s Department had left his accommodation at 7am but failed to answer his mobile phone.
“I’m totally disgusted with the way we’ve been treated,” his partner Debbie Leshane told The New York Post. “Albert has been a first responder since he was 25 years old. Everybody deserves to be searched for. But he really, honestly deserves it.”
She and his relatives have travelled to the island themselves to form their own rescue team, after local authorities only flew a helicopter in the air for two hours.
Promises to bring in drones, sniffer dogs and more helicopter searches have been unfulfilled with the family’s attempts to pay for further assistance has allegedly been rebuffed.
Weather forecast for the coming days in Greece
Last week, Greece recorded its earliest ever heatwave as temperatures soared to around 38C for more than three days running, as hot winds from north Africa pushed up the temperatures.
Authorities were forced to close the Acropolis and all other archaeological sites in the Greek capital, with officials on high alert for wildfires.
Many schools were also closed while emergency services continue to search for missing tourists who have fallen victim to the hot weather, with an American tourist and a French couple currently at the centre of the searches.
Over the coming days, hot conditions will continue with Athens consistently seeing highs of 35C, the popular tourist islands of Rhodes and Corfu hitting 32C and 36C, and the Cyclades Islands reaching 30C for the next week.
Greek commander says he ‘can’t remember anything like it'
Concern has mounted among the Greek emergency services that foreign tourists are not being properly informed of the risks posed by hiking in such high temperatures.
“In all my years in the police service, overseeing such operations, I can’t remember anything like it,” said one commander on Syros.
“But we have to bear in mind that this has been the hottest June ever and all of these people decided to go out hiking. You can’t arrest someone for deciding to take a walk, and you can’t force them to stay indoors, you can only hope that while on holiday tourists will have their wits about them in such heat.”
Tributes to ‘hard working’ horse trainer found on Greek beach
An American tourist who died in Greece has been identified.
Toby Sheets, a Floral Park resident for more than 20 years, was found on a beach on the Greek island of Mathraki Sunday, his family told CBS News.
Sheets, 55, worked as the longtime assistant trainer to horse racing Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the leading horse trainer in North America by wins.
His father told CBS News Sheets was “a very hard worker and he was doing what he loved, training horses” and “will be dearly missed.”
“New York’s horse racing community grieves the loss of Toby Sheets, and NYRA extends our condolences to Toby’s family and legion of friends.” added Patrick McKenna of the New York Racing Association.
Brother of missing American ‘flabbergasted’ at lack of help from US
The brother of American tourist Albert Calibet who has been missing for over a week on the island of Amorgos, Greece, says chances are very slim he will find the missing former police officer.
In a tearful YouTube video Oliver Calibet, who arrived from California last week to join the search operation, said that Greece is doing what it can with its limited resources, but “I don’t know why the US can’t come here and help. The US is doing nothing.”
He continued: “I’m flabbergasted. This is a small little island. He should have been found days ago if the US had put in a little, a tiny little effort.”
In the video, Oliver Calibet disputed the official version of the search and rescue operation. “I have yet to see a helicopter. I have seen some drones and a few people searching in the trails. But this is the Greek government. I can’t be mad with them. They do what they can. I am mad with the US. I need help. This is a US citizen who needs to be brought home.”
American 55-year-old found dead on secluded Mathraki island
Mathraki, the secluded island to the north of Corfu, is where American tourist Toby Sheets was found dead on the beach.
It is only accessible by boat from Agios Stefanos and receives very few tourists, even during the high season.
There are no buses and almost no cars, on the island with boat and motorbike the most common transport modes used by locals.
Visitors were invited to explore the island on foot.
There is no camping on the island, with only a few rooms to let around the port.
The only village in Mathraki is Chorio, on the southern side of the island.
Mathraki Island has a 2 kilometres long ribbon of sandy beach, with intermittent rock shade, stretching the across the east side of the island.
On the west side, a walk takes in the Kato Mathraki church and leads to different and varied beaches.
Greek locals growing frustrated with hiking tourists
Greek locals are reportedly growing frustrated with tourists “underestimating” the extreme heat as five holidaymakers are confirmed dead.
A documentary filmmaker living in Greece told the i that tourists in Athens don’t know the intensity of the heat and said she often sees tourists hiking in temperatures that locals wouldn’t do exercise in.
“There is a sense of frustration among locals [at British tourists] but also they feel very sorry, very sad. They do not want [tourists’ deaths] to happen – it is also bad for them as a tourist destination,” she said.
Missing French woman sent distress text to hotel
One of the two French women who went missing on a Greek Island last week sent a distressing text to the hotel she was staying at before vanishing.
Authorities on the island of Sikinos are desperately searching for two French hikers,, aged 73 and 64, after the pair went missing on Friday.
It has emerged that the 73-year-old sent message to the owner of the guest house she was staying at in the morning. Ilias Gavanas told Reuters he last heard from her on Friday when he reached her by phone around 8:30am after missing a call from her at 5:50am.
He said the woman had sent him a selfie and a message saying: “I am fall”. He replied in French and English asking for her location and telling her to call the European emergency number 112, and alerted police and municipal authorities.
Hiking is popular with tourists on Sikinos, a largely barren and sparsely populated island in the southern Aegean Sea, Gavanas said.
“We warn them not to go out in the heat, to always inform us where they are, to not wander off alone,” he said. “It was 40 degrees.”
The second French woman missing on Sikinos was not staying at the same hotel but authorities believe the two missing women went hiking together.
Common symptoms of heat exhaustion as five tourists die hiking in Greece
Common symptoms of heat exhaustion include:
· A headache
· Dizziness and confusion
· Loss of appetite and feeling sick
· Excessive sweating and pale, clammy skin
· Cramps in the arms, legs and stomach
· Fast breathing or pulse
· A high temperature of 38C or above
· Extreme thirst
Dr Mohit Mandiratta, a local GP in the Black Country, added: “To help prevent heat exhaustion drink plenty of cold drinks, take cool baths or showers and wear light-coloured and loose clothing. Try to stay out of the sun between 11am-3pm.
“If someone has heat exhaustion, move them to a cool place and get them to lie down with their feet raised slightly. Ensure they drink plenty of water and cool their skin with cold water and fan them. They should start to cool down and feel better within 30 minutes.
“If someone with heat exhaustion does not improve after 30 minutes, they may have heatstroke. You should call emergency services if they still feel unwell after drinking plenty of water.”