ATHENS — Funerals for victims of Greece’s lethal wildfire began Saturday, with the burial of an elderly priest who drowned as he sought safety from the flames in the sea off the Mati coastal resort. Meanwhile, Greece’s public order minister continued to defend authorities’ response to Monday’s blaze that claimed the lives of at least 86 individuals, saying there was no way to evacuate so many people in the short span it took the flames to sweep through the area. Hundreds attended Father Spyridon Papapostolou’s funeral in his parish of Halandri, a northern suburb of the Greek capital of Athens.
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