MATI

The cancellation Thursday of a scheduled meeting in Athens between Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios and Archbishop Ieronymos has fuelled speculation about a rift between the two.

Church of Greece officials said the meeting, originally scheduled for Friday, was canceled due to Ieronymos's work obligations ahead of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, also on Friday.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios casts a bouquet of flowers into the sea from the Argyra Akti beach in eastern Attica Thursday, during a service for those who died in the nearby village of Mati in last July's wildfires. The service was attended by the mayors of Rafina and Marathon, Evangelos Bournous and Ilias Psinakis, as well as victims' relatives.

The devastating wildfire in the resort town of Mati in eastern Attica this summer has been a cause of much pain and anger across the country.

So it goes without saying that it is incumbent on the relevant authorities to provide answers as to why the fire wrought so much destruction and why the death toll was so high.

Supreme Court prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou on Tuesday back-pedalled on her request to delay the completion of a report on the deadly blaze in east Attica until the General Inspector of Public Administration has sent her separate findings, after facing intense criticism.

Residents of the coastal settlements of Mati and Neos Voutzas, which bore the brunt of July's disastrous wildfires, are up in arms over the government's backtracking on pledges to relieve them of paying the unified property tax (ENFIA). 

Police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of multiple acts of arson in the municipality of Ancient Olympia in the Peloponnese, the fire service said in a press release.

The 44-year-old man is accused of setting three fires in land plots in the areas of Vasilaki, Louvro and Kamena between August 21 and September 1.

As the toll from last month's wildfires in east Attica Thursday climbed to 98 with the death of an 83-year-old woman at an Athens hospital, residents at the seaside town of Mati, which suffered the biggest losses, continue to face significant challenges.

Standing in the burnt-out shell of what used to be his home and business, Theodoros Kouris waits for Greek government inspectors to decide the building's fate.

It has been one month since Greece's deadliest wildfire ravaged the now deserted seaside town of Mati, killing 96 people, and life here is still far from normal.

A wildfire in a pine forest near the Aghia Paraskevi area on the Kassandra leg of northern Greece's Halkidiki peninsula was brought under control on Saturday, the fire service said.

The fire led to the deployment of 40 firemen, two water-dropping aircraft and 10 fire engines, authorities said.

Survivors of last month's deadly blazes on the outskirts of Attica are struggling to cope while experts are warning of the public health risks posed by toxic ash in the afflicted areas, Kathimerini has learned.