As search operations for the missing persons continue, tragic personal stories illustrating the pain and suffering of victim families are coming to light. In one such story, a mother who lost both her children and husband published a gut-wrenching letter about the final words of her children and her desperate efforts to contact them amid the fiery chaos.

Her daughter, Evita, 13, jumped to her death from 15 metres in Mati trying to escape the flames, while the brother of Evita, Andreas, 11, also died in the flames along with his 54-year-old father Grigoris.

The pain of the surviving mother was conveyed through a letter read by journalist Babis Papapanagiotou, a personal friend of the family, who read it on air on the show “Atairiastoi”, on SKAI TV.

“I am trying to be like my little daughter, who was always a fighter and managed to prove it in every way. I know that Grigoris would have done his best to save them. The fact that he failed was merely the will of the Lord. I can hear in my ears the sweet trembling voice of Andreas: ‘I’m afraid mommy, I’m very worried, I will stay strong, but you should not come, mom. I want you not to come, it’s all closed, you will not make it.’

“I tried to reach them, four hours I was trying to get close to them”, the letter continued. “When I abandoned the efforts, thinking that it would be better not to also endanger myself so I could help if I needed to. I have no words. When I manage to identify my boys – because the state apparatus has completely lost it on that front too – I will tell you with certainty that I lost everything. Embrace your children every day. “