Missing 80-year-old farmer found dead in storm-hit Crete

An 80-year-old farmer was found dead on Thursday south of Rethymno, on the island of Crete, as eKathimerini reports. The elderly man, a resident of the village of Karines, had gone missing on Wednesday evening, September 30, after going out to tend his flock in the surrounding area. Police and firefighters launched the search operation on Thursday morning, but found him lifeless.

The discovery of the body comes amid the severe weather hitting southern Greece, especially Crete, with flooding and extensive damage. According to eKathimerini’s reporting, in Livadia, a mountain village about 40 kilometres southwest of Heraklion, a bridge partially collapsed, injuring two people — the couple who were crossing it by car at that moment. Schools were closed in parts of Chania, Rethymno and the mountainous Mylopotamos area, while traffic was halted on the Lasithi Plateau, in eastern Crete, where damage to crops is extensive.

Apart from the 80-year-old farmer, no other fatality is reported, but the two people injured in the Livadia bridge collapse remain testimony to the storm’s severity. EMY, Greece’s national meteorological service, forecasts unsettled weather in the south of the country, especially in Crete, until Sunday, with heavy rain, storms and strong winds in the Aegean Sea.