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Relief efforts continue in Greece following deadly floods

This aeriel view, taken on Friday, shows a partially destroyed road in a flooded area near the village of Itea, central Greece
This aeriel view, taken on Friday, shows a partially destroyed road in a flooded area near the village of Itea, central Greece Copyright  ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP
Copyright ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP
By Euronews with AFP
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Authorities are battling to save people trapped and affected by the extreme weather in large parts of the country.

Firefighters in Greece, supported by the army, are continuing to help hundreds of residents of villages blocked by floods in Thessaly, which have so far killed ten people, according to the authorities.

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“More than 2,850 people have been rescued since the start of the severe weather,” fire spokesman Yannis Artopios told the Mega television channel.

"There are still many people in the villages around Karditsa, Palamas and around Trikala. They are not missing, they are trapped, the official number of missing at the moment is six”, Artopios added.

Several houses remain underwater in the village of Palamas where emergency services continue to work to help those trapped.

The situation also remains worrying near the town of Larissa, a few kilometres to the east.

On Friday evening, civil protection sent a message to evacuate a district of Larissa threatened by rising waters.

In Volos, some 330 kilometres north of Athens, the water supply remains problematic, as pumping stations and a large part of the supply network were destroyed during the storm.

The Greek Ministry of Health issues recommendations to affected citizens, urging them not to drink the water in that region.

“Cases of gastroenteritis have appeared and that risks increasing if residents do not have enough water! The authorities must distribute at least 2 litres of drinking water to everyone,” insisted Elena Riza, a professor of epidemiology at Athens Medical University while appearing on public television channel ERT.

Described by experts as an "extreme phenomenon in terms of the quantity of water that fell in the space of 24 hours", storm Daniel hit the Magnesia region on Monday and Tuesday.

It particularly affected the port city of Volos and the villages of Mount Pelion, before reaching localities around Karditsa and Trikala on Wednesday.

This extreme weather follows devastating forest fires this summer in Greece, which left at least 26 dead.

In Turkey and Bulgaria, two countries bordering Greece, the torrential rains of recent days have caused a total of at least 12 deaths.

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