Greece breaks down illegal houses after killing during forest fires

athens - Greece will demolish thousands of illegal buildings. That's what Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday. In buildings without a permit, dozens of people were killed during a devastating forest fire on 23 July.

Tsipras, whose government was accused of a slow reaction to the disaster, said that the demolition of 3200 buildings would begin immediately in the Attica region, which includes the capital city of Athens.

'The same applies to the rest of Greece,' Tsipras told the audience in Lavrio, east of Athens, close to where the devastation in the resort of Mati took place in a few hours.

At least 91 people died during the forest fires. Many of them were trapped in a maze of narrow walled streets. There were also many constructions without a permit, which is very common in Greece.

'We are determined that nothing will be forgotten and we will bear the (political) costs,' said Tsipras.