Mati

The Greek state is expected to issue an estimated 550 licenses for the construction of homes to replace those that burnt down during the devastating fires that engulfed the coastal resort of Mati in eastern Attica last summer.

The licenses will be issued regardless of whether the previous houses had been built illegally.

Car importer Teoren Motors announced it will draw five new Renault Clio cars for the eastern Attica residents who had their vehicle burnt during the devastating wildfire at Mati and Neos Voutzas on July 23.

All construction is being suspended along key roads in the eastern Attica towns of Rafina and Mati that were affected by last summer's deadly fires, the Environment Ministry has decided.

"We feel you California" is the message that young people from Mati, Neos Voutzas and Kokkino Limanaki, east Attica places ravaged by fire last July 23 posted for their California counterparts.

There is no comparing the scale of the two fires. Still, 99 people perished in Greece's worst such tragedy that unfolded in the space of a few hours.

The Anglo-Hellenic League, a London-based charity dedicated to promoting friendship between the people of the UK and Greece, will donate 10,000 pounds (11,200 euros) in support of the victims of the deadly wildfires in east Attica last July.

The head of the Athens prosecutor's office, Ilias Zagoraios, on Tuesday ordered a preliminary investigation into accusations of mismanagement by the Municipality of Marathon of donations for victims of the blaze that hit the Mati holiday resort east of the capital in July.

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.

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). 

A study presented on Wednesday on eastern Attica's deadly wildfires in July found that the hour and a half between when the blaze started on the slopes of Mount Penteli and when it reached Mati on the coast was ample to order the residents of the seaside town to go down to the seashore in an orderly manner.

The relatives of eight people who perished in last month's wildfire in Mati, east of Athens, have filed a lawsuit against high-ranking state officials, accusing them of criminal negligence.