Twin girls missing in the Greek fires have been found dead, locked in an embrace with their grandparents, a family friend said.
Sofia and Vasiliki Philippopoulos, aged nine, and their grandparents vanished as fires swept through the resort town of Mati.
“The epilogue has been written. All 4 found hugging each other. Not even death could tear them apart,” relative Angelo Kontos posted on Facebook.
Sofia and Vasiliki Philippopoulos were found dead embracing their grandparents. Source: Supplied
The sisters' disappearance gripped Greece's attention after their dad, Yiannis Philippopoulos, said he saw them on TV sitting in a fishing boat with other people.
He made an emotional appeal on national television for anyone who was on the boat to contact him.
Mr Philippopoulos searched desperately for his children, but hopes of the girls being found alive faded when another passenger on the boat said the girls were his.
The death toll of the horrific fires has risen to 91, including a six-month-old infant, a brother and sister aged 11 and 13, and another 13-year-old.
Another 25 remain missing, said spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri, giving a precise figure for the first time after mounting criticism over the issue.
But some or all of the missing may be among 28 victims whose bodies are currently being examined by forensic pathologists and have not been identified, civil protection spokesman Spyros Georgiou told AFP.
An alert for Sofia and Vasiliki Philippopoulos. Source: Amber Alert Greece
Four foreign victims have so far been identified including a young Irishman on his honeymoon, a Polish woman and her son, and a Belgian man whose daughter was rescued.
Finger-pointing over the authorities' handling of the crisis intensified on Sunday as the rightwing and centrist opposition accused the government of initially trying to hide the loss of human life.
The fire services on Sunday continued to probe the causes of the wildfires, with the government suspecting criminal origins.
The daily Kathimerini said that an initial report pointed to criminal negligence on the part of a resident who lit a bonfire of dead leaves and branches.
Firefighters and volunteers try to extinguish a wildfire raging in Verori. Source: ANA-MPA
