(21 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Athens – 12 June 2024
1. Various of tourists
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Athens – 21 June 2024
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Christos Giannaros, environmental physicist specializing in heat-related research:
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"There are strong indications that these deaths are associated with heat stress. This is because of the abnormally hot weather conditions that are affecting Greece, including the islands, since early June, and further, because of the fact that those who died were outdoors performing hiking, which is a strenuous physical activity that can place excessive demands on the thermoregulation system of the human body, leading to heat exhaustion and heat stroke."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Athens – 12 June 2024
3. Tourists queuing
4. Various of Parthenon
5. Various of tourists
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Athens – 21 June 2024
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Christos Giannaros, environmental physicist specializing in heat-related research, speaking about the tourists who recently died on islands:
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"Those people were coming from countries that are characterized by colder climates compared to the climate of Greece, so there was also a lack of acclimatization to the overall warm weather conditions that prevailed in the country. The tourists, and especially those who are elderly should focus protection measures against heat stress. Among others, these include avoiding any physical activity and being in the sun during the hottest hours of the day, that is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., staying hydrated, staying in cool places, wearing lightweight and light-colored clothes, and avoiding heavy meals and alcohol. These are basic measures that should be followed, especially during hot periods as those that are affecting Greece this summer."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Athens – 13 June 2024
8. People jumping in water
9. Various of people in water
10. Pebbles and water
STORYLINE:
An environmental physicist who specializes in heat-related research attributed the recent string of cases in which tourists on Greek islands have died or gone missing to increased physical activity before their body can become acclimated to the extreme June temperatures reported around the country this year.
For the most part, those who died were outdoors hiking, which Christos Giannaros said is a “strenuous physical activity that can place excessive demands on the thermoregulation system of the human body, leading to heat exhaustion and heat stroke."
A 74-year-old Dutch tourist was found by a fire department drone lying face down in a ravine about 300 meters (330 yards) from the spot where he was last observed walking with some difficulty in the blistering heat, and a missing American tourist was found on a beach on a small Greek island west of Corfu.
Dr. Michael Mosley, a noted British television presenter and author, was found dead June 9 on the island of Symi.
Those missing include two French tourists, aged 64 and 73, on the Aegean island of Sikinos, and a 59-year-old American tourist on Amorgos, also in the Cyclades.
Giannaros said older people have lower sweat rates and cannot dissipate heat from their body as effectively as those who are younger.
But that’s not the only factor contributing to the deaths and disappearances.
"Those people were coming from countries that are characterized by colder climates compared to the climate of Greece, so there was also a lack of acclimatization to the overall warm weather conditions that prevailed in the country,” he said.
AP video shot by Lefteris Pitarakis
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