Greek flooding toll reaches 19 as more bodies found

ATHENS: Greek police and emergency workers rescued three bodies in flood-hit areas west of Athens on Saturday, bringing the death toll since Wednesday to 19.
"The bodies of three men discovered on Saturday, aged 28, 58, and 35, have been identified by their families," Nikos Papaefstathiou, head of the National Health Operations Centre, told AFP.
"We are still searching for at least three people reported missing," he added. Two of the bodies found Saturday were fished out of the gulf of Eleusis, near the town of Mandra west of Athens, by port police. The bodies were those of two men, aged 35 and 55, a police official said.
Meanwhile in Mandra itself, rescue workers uncovered a third body buried in the mud.
The freak flood struck early on Wednesday the towns of Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Athens.
Before the latest discoveries, the flood toll stood at 16 dead and six missing.
Local authorities have begun tallying the damage but with the emphasis still on clearing roads and searching for the missing, there is no clear indication of the cost.
The mayor of Mandra said some 2,000 homes and businesses had been gutted, and the Megara mayor said another 500 homes had been hit in his area. Even the local cemetery was submerged in mud, with tombstones broken and strewn about.