General Secretariat for Civil Protection

Greece will participate in a new European Union program aimed at enlisting the help of member-states to respond to wildfires and other natural disasters, the country's General Secretariat for Civil Protection said on Tuesday.
Last month, the European Commission inaugurated its first fleet of firefighting aircraft under a new program dubbed rescEU without the participation of Greece.

Fire service teams were transferring letters from various parts of the country to Athens on Saturday in an ongoing investigation into a slew of missives posted from abroad, most of them from India, containing a powder that tests have shown to be harmless.

Envelopes mailed from India to a dozen Greek universities prompted an anti-terrorism investigation on Thursday after tests found an industrial irritant that triggered an allergic reaction in members of staff.

As the General Secretariat for Civil Protection warned about a new cold front that was forecast to begin last night and intensify through Saturday, local authorities in Attica and across the country on Wednesday convened with members of rescue services to discuss their readiness to deal with the fallout of the bad weather.

The General Secretariat for Civil Protection on Sunday declared several municipalities in mainland Greece to be in a state of emergency after a powerful tropical-type storm pounded the region, causing widespread damage.

Two retired officers of the Greek fire service and navy have called for a higher level of handling in the probe into the east Attica wildfire that claimed nearly 100 lives on July 23.

The death toll in last month's deadly wildfire in eastern Attica rose to 96 on Tuesday, after a 68-year-old burns victim succumbed to his injuries.

The man had been in intensive care in the KAT hospital in Athens.

The fire service said the man's death brings to a total of 13 the number of fire victims who subsequently died in hospital.

The death toll in last month's deadly wildfire in the outskirts of Attica on July 23-24, with the death of a man in his 60s who had been hospitalized after the blaze.

According to SKAI TV, the man, who had been in intensive care in the KAT hospital in Athens, was aged 63.

In a new briefing on Saturday, Greece's fire service said the number of victims from the deadly wildfire in the outskirts of Attica on July 23-24 has risen to 94.

The fire service said 11 burn victims have died in hospital, while more than 30 people are receiving treatment.

Last week, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection has released a list of the names of 92 victims.

Firefighters in eight of the countries thirteen regions have been placed on high alert, as the country's civil protection agency issued its second-highest fire warning for Friday.