A fast-moving wildfire in northern Greece has claimed at least two lives — a retired professor and, in a development feared by authorities, a missing child — as the country's summer fire season delivers its most devastating blow yet.
Firefighters discovered the professor's body in woodland outside a home near the Liti settlement in the Oreokastro municipality. Inside the gutted property, a second severely burned body was found — its physical dimensions, authorities said, consistent with those of the couple's child, who had been reported missing as flames consumed the house. Formal identification is pending DNA testing.
The professor's 60-year-old partner, the child's mother, was pulled from the scene and rushed to Ippokrateio General Hospital in Thessaloniki, where doctors confirmed she is recovering and out of danger.
Hellenic Fire Corps spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told reporters the dense forest terrain had severely hampered access to the home, delaying efforts to reach those inside. The family's identities are being withheld pending conclusive forensic results and notification of relatives.
Arson investigators remain at the scene as authorities work to establish the cause of the blaze.
The tragedy underscores the deadly reality facing residential communities built along forest boundaries — a vulnerability that intensifies each summer as dry conditions and high winds conspire to turn sparks into infernos within minutes. With the season barely under way, Greece is already counting its dead.