Tourist found dead off Greek island, three more missing

An American was found dead near the Greek island of Corfu on Sunday, media reported, the latest tourist fatality during an unseasonal heatwave as three other visitors were missing.

A tourist found the missing 55-year-old man in the sea near the old port of Mathraki and informed the police, public broadcaster ERT and Athens News Agency reported.

The man was last seen alive on Tuesday and his body will be transferred to Corfu hospital for an autopsy. According to Athens News Agency, he was at Mathraki for a holiday with a Greek-American friend.

It is yet another case of a tourist death on Greece’s islands in recent days, after that of BBC presenter Michael Mosley in Symi last week and a 74-year-old Dutchman found dead by the fire service in Samos on Saturday.

Two French women aged 73 and 64 are also reported missing in Sikinos, a small island in the Aegean Sea, and searches are ongoing for another tourist in Amorgos.

Most of them were attempting hikes under the scorching sun as much of Greece saw record temperatures for the first week of June, reaching 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in many areas of the country.

Meteorologists have noted it was the earliest heatwave — which for Greece means temperatures exceeding 38C for at least three days — on record.

The UNESCO-listed Athens Acropolis archaeological site, Greece’s most visited attraction, was closed to the public during the hottest hours on Thursday for the second day running.