Two French women vacationing on Sikinos island in the Cyclades are the latest foreign tourists to have gone missing in Greece in the recent heatwave.
Rescue teams on Saturday were looking for the two women, aged 64 and 73, who stayed at different hotels but were believed to be connected.
According to local news website Cyclades24, Sikinos authorities were alerted about the tourists’ disappearance on Friday morning.
Police forces, the Fire Service, municipal officials and volunteers, including teams from the nearby island of Ios, are all taking part in the joint search for the women.
Early June heatwave leaves four foreign tourists dead in Greece
The worrying news of the French holidaymakers’ disappearance come hours after the discovery of the body of a Dutch tourist on Samos. The man had been missing since June 9, during a hike.
A total of four foreign visitors have been found dead in Greece amidst the early June heatwave, while another one was still missing on Saturday on Amorgos.
It is feared that foreign visitors appear unaware or not properly informed of the risks posed by overexertion during the country’s frequent and lasting summer heatwaves.
According to Dimitris Kalatzis, who headed the Samos rescue team for the 74-year-old Dutch, rescue missions were often made more difficult because tourists, frequently unaware of the risks, “veered off track” to see sites and then got lost.
Temperature drops as heatwave subsides
Temperature dropped in Greece on Saturday as the heatwave that baked the country during the week was forecast to gradually subside.
According to the forecast by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, temperatures will continue to drop, temporarily returning to usual levels for this time of year.
In mainland areas, temperatures will range from 31 to 33 degrees Celsius, reaching up to 34 degrees Celsius locally in Thessaly. In the islands, temperatures will range from 29 to 32 degrees Celsius.
The average high temperature in Greece was 36.1C during the week, while 228 of 509 active weather stations registered temperatures of over 37C and at 51 meteorological stations, temperatures rose above 40C.
Primary schools and kindergartens in the municipality of the Greek capital, Athens, were shut on Wednesday and Thursday due to the extreme weather conditions and public services offered flexible working hours to protect employees.
According to the National Observatory of Athens, the highest temperature in the country was registered at Lefkochori in Fthiotida, Central Greece, and was 43.2C (109.76F), followed by Sparta, in southern Peloponnese, with 43.1C.