Athens flood death toll rises to 21

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - The death toll from flash flooding which hit Athens last week has risen to 21, as Greece’s prime minister blasted “criminal and inexcusable” local planning.

The remains of the latest victim were found in the early hours of Tuesday near a bus depot in the western Athenian municipality of Mandra, close to where two other victims were found on Saturday, the fire department said.

Firefighters said rescue operations were still ongoing and would continue for days to come.

The authorities have announced emergency aid for those affected, including a tax-free benefit of €5,000 ($5,880) per damaged household and €8,000 ($9,400) per damaged business, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said on Monday.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras blamed the disaster on construction and town planning of the past decades, while speaking in parliament during a debate on financial aid the government will distribute to low-income earners and pensioners.

"It is an unprecedented disaster caused by an extremely extreme phenomenon," he said, adding that the floods revealed "in the most tragic way the criminal and inexcusable political choices of decades in construction and town planning”.

“When you are indifferent towards nature for decades, the time comes when [nature] takes revenge. And the price in this case is great, the pain deep. The images I saw were shocking. Our commitment by the side of the people affected is a priority and our obligation," he added.

The floods were one of the worst disasters to have hit the areas of Nea Peramos, Megara and Mandra, turning roads into fast-flowing rivers of mud, trapping passengers in their vehicles and residents in their homes.