Eight years after the deadliest wildfire in modern Greek history, survivors and families returned to the coast of Mati o...

Eight years after the deadliest wildfire in modern Greek history, survivors and families returned to the coast of Mati on Thursday night to remember the 104 people who died when flames tore through the seaside village on July 23, 2018. The evening began at 7 p.m. at the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Nea Voutzas, where the victims' monument stands. One by one, their names were read aloud. The crowd fell apart when the names of the children came, including a six-month-old unbaptized infant, a five-year-old, nine-year-old twins, and several other young children who never made it out of the fire. After the roll call, those gathered shouted "Athanati," meaning immortal, as white balloons were released into the night sky above Mati. The central ceremony continued at 8:30 p.m. at the Mati Nautical Club, followed by a silent procession along Poseidonos Street to Argyra Akti beach, tracing the same coastal path where many of the 104 died trying to reach the water in 2018. At Argyra Akti, 104 lanterns were placed into the sea, one for each life lost, lighting up the darkness along the shoreline. Survivors and family members embraced each other and renewed their promise to keep fighting against forgetting. Mid-route, the procession paused in Nea Voutzas at a spot where 17 cypress trees have been planted for the 17 people who died there. Kalli Anagnostou, president of the Association of Relatives of the Deceased and Burned of July 23, 2018, addressed the crowd, with her association stating afterward that the anniversary serves as a constant reminder of the value of human life and a shared responsibility to pursue truth and accountability. The fire that night left 177 dead and burned, making it one of the worst civilian disasters in Greece since World War II. #Mati #Greece #July23