Greek shipowners and owner-related foundations have pledged more than €30m ($35m) to help their country cope with forest fires after a blaze that killed dozens near Athens last month.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) announced a €25m grant to the Greek fire department. The money will go towards training personnel as well as maintenance and procurement of new equipment.
The Onassis Foundation said it will donate €5m to cover victims’ immediate needs and reconstruction efforts.
These are two of the largest one-off donations ever recorded in Greece, a country regularly hit by forest fires and other deadly natural disasters, such as earthquakes and flash floods.
“In times like these, there isn’t much to say — just to do,” the Onassis Foundation, established by legendary shipowner Aristotle Onassis, said in a press statement.
More than 90 people are confirmed dead and dozens more injured in the fire that swooped down from the slopes of Attica’s hills to ravage a beachside resort.
Hundreds of people fled to the beach to save themselves and had to be evacuated by boat, causing some media to call this Greece’s Dunkirk.
According to initial estimates, about 1,200 houses have been destroyed or are uninhabitable.
The Niarchos and Onassis foundations are not the only shipping-related institution to have offered help.
Shipowner Evangelos Marinakis and his football team, Olympiacos FC, have said they would donate €1m.
Hellenic Petroleum, a Greek refiner in which the Latsis family has a majority stake, donated the same amount and said it would provide free fuel to help the victims.
The Union of Greek Shipowners announced it would meet soon to determine its support.
