A chilling Facebook post has emerged of a chef who predicted his own death in the Greek wildfires hours before he perished along with his family.
Panos Kokkinidis posted a video online showing the out of control fire spreading near the town of Mati, to the east of the Greek capital Athens.
He captured footage of smoke and flames billowed in the distance and wrote: ‘If a miracle does not happen, it will burn a lot of people.’
Hours later the pastry chef at a top Athens hotel died in the blaze along with his wife Anni Spanou, their two young children and his mother.
It comes as Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas said there are ‘serious indications’ the inferno was started by arsonists. He said satellite image analysis of the deadly fire and a second blaze that broke out Monday on the other side of the city indicated both had been set in multiple places within a short time frame.
Chef Panos Kokkinidis (pictured), who died in a devastating Greek wildfire, predicted his own death in a chilling Facebook post, it has emerged
He captured footage of smoke and flames billowed in the distance. Hours later the pastry chef at a top Athens hotel died in the blaze along with his wife Anni Spanou, their two young children and his mother
The chef had written on Facebook: ‘If a miracle does not happen, it will burn a lot of people’
Greek officials say they have ‘serious indications’ fires that left at least 82 dead were started by arsonists as a manhunt gets underway. An aerial photo shows burnt houses and trees following a wildfire in Mati, east of Athens
A worker transports a burnt car following a wildfire in Neos Voutzas, east of Athens, today
‘We have serious indications and significant findings of criminal activity concerning arson,’ Toskas said. ‘We are troubled by many factors, and there have been physical findings that are the subject of an investigation.’
It is thought the Kokkinidis family had been attempting to flee to the coast in Mati when they overcome by smoke and flames fanned by 60mph winds.
Facebook pages for Kokkinidis and his wife contained heartfelt tributes from friends.
Kokkinidis worked at the Royal Olympic Hotel in Athens.
A member of staff told Mail Online: ‘We are all just stunned by his death. The only consolation if there is any is that he died with all his family.’
A Facebook page for the Chef’s Club of Greece contained a tribute to their colleague.
It read: ‘The words can not describe our sorrow and pain for the unjust loss of our member Panagiotis Kokkinidis and his family (his wife, his mother and their two minor children) to the fatal fire in Mati.
A local stands in front of burned woodland in Mati, east of Athens, where at least 82 died in wildfires
Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece’s deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens’ morgue yesterday. Staff are pictured at the facility
Greek officials say they have ‘serious indications’ fires that left at least 82 dead were started by arsonists as a manhunt gets underway. A policeman walks in front of a morgue in Athens.
Workers carry bags with debris in the fire-ravaged town of Mati last night. There are fears the death toll from the disaster could yet climb higher
We are mourning for our own Panayiotis and his family. A wonderful person with ethical values, a great professional and above all a family man.
‘To all of us who have lived to him, to all of us who we have met him, his goodness expressed through his eyes will remain unforgettable.’
Officials in Greece have said 30 of the 83 bodies recovered have been identified.
Forensic experts who helped at major disasters, including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, have flown to Athens to assist with the identification of the victims.
The specialist team are from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police
They were involved in the 2004 Tsunami that claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and a 2002 mid-air collision of a Russian charter flight and a DHL cargo plane over southern Germany that killed 71 people.
Relatives of the victims have been told to report to the city’s mortuary until the weekend to give a DNA sample to help with the identification process.
Formal identification of those who died is not expected until later next week.
Athens Coroner Nikolaos Kalogrias said many of the bodies are burned beyond recognition.
Members of the city’s dental school have also been involved in the grim process of identification.
Kalogrias said: ‘The procedure is difficult, harder than that of other mass disasters, which we have dealt with in the past as a forensics department.
‘Here, the main cause of death was burning, in most cases the complete burning (of the body), so identification is very difficult.’
A spokesman for the Athens coroner said the poor condition of many of the bodies would mean DNA tests could take up to 40 days.
‘To spare the agony of the bereaved we will try to be as quick as we can, said the spokesman.
Veterinarians Iron Mavraki, left, and Meni Tsakalidi treat a cat that suffered burns and other injuries in Pikermi, east of Athens, after the wildfires
Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, left, talks with local resident Giannis Kardiakos during his visit to Mati
‘But the tests have to be complete and thorough before we know the results’.
The spokesman said usual DNA tests from saliva and hair samples will not be possible on the most badly burned bodies.
Greek authorities are examining aerial photographs taken by US Naval planes and drones to see of the blaze in the forests above Mati, the worst affected area, were started deliberately.
Investigators say they have ‘serious indications’ the blazes about 18 miles from Athens were the work
Nikos Toskas, the country’s public order minister, said satellite image analysis and ground inspections suggest the fires that simultaneously broke out in multiple places were the work of arsonists.
‘We have serious indications of criminal acts… lots of fires appeared in a very short period of time,’ Toskas said.
‘We are troubled by many factors, and there have been physical findings that are the subject of an investigation.’
Fire chiefs said there were 22 separate seats of fire.
As well as arson investigators are probing if illegally built homes contributed to blocking escape routes for those fleeing the out of control fires.
Survivors have complained the narrow passageways leading down towards the sea were blocked cutting off their escape route.
Girogos Handrinos stands outside the ruins of his house in Mati. Rescuers intensified a grim house-to-house search for more casualties today
Shocking aerial photos reveal the scale of the disaster. The fire ripped through the community in a matter of minutes
Local officials have accepted that planning in Mati was haphazard but denied access to the sea had been cut off.
The Mayor of Marathon, which includes Mati, said the narrow streets had caused problems with cars becoming jammed and unable to move.
Fire crews found many of the victims still in their vehicles while others had been incinerated with their doors left wide open after the occupants fled.
Officials said more than 1,000 homes were destroyed or damaged and at least 300 vehicles were burned.
Donations and messages of condolence have continued to flood into Greece.
Prince Charles sent a message of condolence on behalf of the Royal family to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
He said: ‘My wife and I wanted you to know how deeply saddened we were to learn of the tragic loss of life following the devastating wildfires in Attica.
‘Above all, our hearts go out to all the families who have been so cruelly bereaved, and our deepest sympathy to those who have been injured or whose property has been destroyed.
‘Having been with you in Athens only recently, and recalling the joy of our visit and the welcome we received from the Greek people, we can only assure you of our affectionate thoughts and special prayers at such a heartbreaking time.’ Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall paid a three-day official visit to Greece in May.