Authorities Find Bodies of 26 Family Members, Some Hugging, During Greek Wildfires

As a wildfires continue to rage through Greece's capital, the death toll has increased to 74.

Officials sadly found 26 bodies believed to be family members huddled together, some hugging, in a compound in northeast Athens, ABC News reported.

Many tourists and residents have evacuated to the coastline overnight.

"Everything happened in seconds," Andreaas Passios, who lives next to the compound, told InsideEdition.com. "I grabbed a beach towel. It saved my life. I soaked it, grabbed my wife and we ran to the sea."

The coast guard is sending a patrol boat to evacuate nearly 700 people trapped on a beach by flames.

Greek authorities have declared a state of emergency in the eastern and western parts of greater Athens as the fires and severe winds raged through pine forests and seaside towns.

Children from a camp were seen boarding buses during an evacuation effort.

The blaze has created such thick smoke that the main highways between the Peloponnese and the Greek mainland have been shut down.

RELATED STORIES