Several tourists have died in Greece amid what is said to be its earliest heatwave on record
Searches are under way for three other people missing on Greek islands gripped by extreme heat.
A heatwave, said to be Greece’s earliest on record, has seen temperatures reach as high as 44C. This week, temperatures hit 35C on Monday, and were set to remain in the mid to high 30s.
At least five tourists, including British broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley, who was found dead on the island of Symi earlier this month, have died in the heat.
The toll also included a a 74-year-old Dutch tourist who was found by a firefighter drone in a ravine on Samos.
A 67-year-old Dutch tourist suffered a heart attack in Crete, while a 70-year-old French tourist also died.
Three others are currently missing in the Cyclades. Two French women, aged 64 and 73, have been missing since Friday on the island of Sikinos, while retired Los Angeles County deputy sheriff Albert Calibet has not been seen on Amorgos since Tuesday.
Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius earlier this month, just as the holiday season began across Greece’s remote beaches, ancient sites and mountain trails. The Acropolis in Athens was among tourist sites closed last week.
The early heatwave has coincided with a spate of disappearances and deaths of tourists across the Mediterranean country, highlighting the dangers of heat exposure.
“There is a common pattern – they all went for a hike amid high temperatures,” Petros Vassilakis, the police spokesman for the Southern Aegean, told Reuters.
The body of British TV presenter Michael Mosley was found on the island of Symi on June 9, following a four-day search operation by aircraft, drones and boats. He had taken a walk alone in high temperatures before he disappeared.
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Police did not share the identity of the dead American, whose body was found near a beach on Mathraki on Sunday. He was transferred to the island of Corfu where an autopsy will be carried out, a police official told Reuters.
“There are two search operations in progress on other islands. Police, firemen and volunteers have been deployed assisted by a drone and a rescue dog,” Vassilakis said.