A year since Greece's deadliest wildfire, wounds remain open

A combination picture shows a burnt tree at the seaside following a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, July 24, 2018 (L) and the same tree a year later in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

MATI, Greece (Reuters) - A year since Greece's deadliest wildfire tore through coastal towns near Athens, killing 102 people, the road to normalcy for its survivors is long and dotted with burned down homes and barren land.

On the side of one street, a giant white cross rises among black and wilting pine trees. "In memoriam 23-7-18," it reads.

Smoke from a wildfire burning outside Athens is seen over the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece, July 23, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

The resort town of Mati, a wooded area overlooking the sparkling sea east of the capital, was popular with pensioners and children at summer camps. On July 23, 2018, a fire tore through it, killing people in their homes or cars and forcing others to jump off cliffs or into the sea.

On the first anniversary of the disaster, it resembles a ghost town.

A seaside cafe once humming with beach-goers is now empty, its charred tables and chairs long cleared away. A dry, golden thistle bush has grown outside a home where, a year ago, fresh flowers hung in memory of those who died there.

A house destroyed during a wildfire stands in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Elsewhere, one house has a new roof and freshly painted walls, but stands desolate on a patch of scorched land.

"It was hell. We couldn't do anything," Panagiotis Fragos, a Mati resident, said during a memorial service for the victims, recalling the night of the blaze.

"I cry all the time since then. It would have been better if I had also died, if I had come to an end," he said.

A burnt tree from a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, stands on the seaside of the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Across Mati, what used to be a pine forest has been reduced to tall piles of charred tree trunks.

A plot of land where 26 people were found dead, some locked in a tight embrace as the flames closed in, has been cleared of any semblance of life.

"It is very difficult to go on, day by day," said Giorgos Kariris, whose wife died in the fire.

A house, burnt from a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, is seen in Neos Voutzas, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

"It is very difficult for me and for others to wake up in the morning and not have the person you existed with in life -your child, your mother, your father - to embrace, to kiss," he said. "It cannot be described."

Twenty people, including former and current regional and local officials, have been charged over the wildfire, including with involuntary manslaughter and causing bodily harm due to neglect.

The previous government attributed the fire to arson and dismissed accusations it failed to evacuate residents in time. The newly-elected government has announced a series of relief-measures for the survivors.

A house damaged during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, stands in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

At the memorial on Sunday, where white roses were tossed into the sea, survivors said they were still waiting for permits and compensation to begin rebuilding their lives.

(Writing by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

A burnt house stands following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Burnt tables and chairs of a seaside cafe are seen following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 24, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A combination picture shows a burnt slope following a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, July 24, 2018 (L) and the same slope a year later in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A combination picture shows a house that burned during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, August 22, 2018 (L) and the same house a year later in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A combination picture shows an electricity pole standing among burnt trees following a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, July 25, 2018 (L), and newly grown bushes on the same slope in Neos Voutzas, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A combination picture shows a burnt house following a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, August 22, 2018 (L) and the same house a year later in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A field where 26 people's bodies were found following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

The date of a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, is written on a wall in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A cross is placed near the spot where four people were found dead during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A replica of an ancient pillar is seen in the yard of a house which was damaged during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Flowers are laid on the seafront in memory of the 102 people that lost their lives from a wildfire in 2018 in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A seaside cafe that got destroyed from a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, is seen in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A house that was damaged during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, is seen rebuilt in Neos Voutzas, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A damaged swing hangs in a playground that got burnt during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A house that burned during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, stands in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Flowers are placed at one of the entrances of a field where 26 people's bodies were found, following a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A field where 26 people's bodies were found following a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, is seen in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

The spot where two people were found dead during a wildfire that killed 102 people in 2018, is seen in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis