Two dead as downpour near Athens floods roads, traps residents

Heavy overnight rain flooded towns near Athens on Wednesday, killing two people, trapping others in their homes and cars and shutting schools.

Roads in Nea Peramos, 27 km (17 miles) west of Athens, turned into fast-flowing rivers of mud, TV footage showed.

"Practically the entire town of Nea Peramos has flooded," Mayor Grigoris Stamoulis told Antenna TV. "I don't think we've ever seen such flooding before."

Stamoulis said efforts were under way to rescue people from their cars and homes but that he did not believe anyone was in immediate danger.

In the nearby town of Mandra, one woman was found dead in her home on Koropouli Street, the fire brigade said. An elderly man was found dead in his flooded home on Agamemnonos Street.

Twelve people were rescued from a bus on a bridge.

Some residents were forced onto the rooftops and...