At least seven people are dead and more are missing after a strong overnight downpour flooded three towns in Greece, officials say.
The flooding struck the towns of Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, a semi-rural area just west of Athens where many factories and warehouses are based.
TV images show tanker trucks, buses and lorries nearly completely submerged in the muddy torrent.
People are reflected in the front window of a flooded bus as water engulfs an interchange of a highway in Elefsina, western Athens, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
“We have confirmation of seven deaths,” deputy regional governor Yiannis Vassileiou tells state TV ERT as rain continues to fall.
Five men and two women aged 45 and above have died so far.
“The weather forecast is poor, so we are on alert,” he says, adding that “torrents of water” had flooded a highway all the way to the sea many kilometers (miles) away.
“A river of debris went through Mandra… This is unprecedented,” Vassileou says.
“Everything is lost, the disaster is biblical,” Mandra Mayor Ioanna Kriekouki tells the station.
“We have people who are trapped… we need machinery to get them out of their homes,” says Kriekouki, who was also immobilized in her home.
Five people were found inside and outside their homes, the fire department said. Another two bodies were found in the coastal areas of Aspropyrgos and Elefsina, the coastguard says.
— AFP
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