At least 74 people have been killed by wildfires which have swept through Greece, as officials have declared a state of emergency.
A group of 26 people were found dead – some locked in an embrace as the flames closed in – near the coastal village of Mati on Tuesday morning, 18 miles (29km) east of Athens.
The group, which included children, were found near the top of a cliff overlooking a beach.
They had ended up there after apparently searching for an escape route, but became “trapped in the flames.”
The head of Greece’s Red Cross, Nikos Economopoulos, told Skai TV: “Instinctively, seeing the end nearing, they embraced.”
Some of the survivors managed to escape by leaping off the cliffs or rushing into the sea from the beach.
Kostas Laganos, a middle-aged survivor, said: “We went into the sea because the flames were chasing us all the way to the water.
“It burned our backs and we dived into the water.
“I said ‘my God, we must run to save ourselves and nothing else’.”
Greece’s prime minister has spoken of the “unspeakable tragedy” and has declared three days of national mourning.
He said a state of emergency had been declared in the Attica region, which includes Athens.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said: “Greece is going through an unspeakable tragedy.
“Greece is living one of its most difficult moments. There are absolutely no words to describe how we feel right now.”
Greece’s interior minister, Panos Skourletis, has described the fires as a “national tragedy” and a “biblical disaster with human losses.”
A fire brigade spokeswoman said the death toll is likely to rise, with the current fatalities standing at 74.
Gutted vehicles line the streets of the coastal town of Mati, melted by the intensity of the heat and bodies lay on roadsides.
Some 156 adults and 16 children have been taken to hospital with injuries, including 11 adults who are in a series condition.
Many have been unable to escape the fast pace of the blaze even though they were a few metres from the Aegean Sea or in their homes, the fire service said.
The inferno was thought to be Greece’s deadliest, with the death toll higher than fires which ravaged the southern Peloponnese peninsula over several days in August 2007, killing dozens.
Several European Union countries have lent their support to Greece after it said it needed help.