Two Poles drown trying to escape fire

A travel office in Poland says a Polish woman and her son were among 10 people who drowned when their boat capsized during evacuation from wildfires in Greece.

Janusz Smigielski, deputy head of the Poznan-based Grecos office, said Tuesday that the two were vacationing in the resort of Mati, east of Athens.

He said that Greek water police and other forces were evacuating 45 people from a Mati hotel in boats when one of them capsized, killing all the passengers. He did not know the nationality of the other victims. The bodies of the Poles have been recovered.

Smigielski said that a further 435 Grecos clients in the Athens region have been moved to hotels in safe areas.

Poland's Foreign Ministry has appealed to Poles in Greece to be very cautious. [AP]