The 26 bodies were found huddled together, appearing to be in a last embrace. The group, many of them children, had been forced towards the sea in a bid to escape some of Greece’s worst ever wildfires, only to be engulfed just metres from the shore near the small resort town of Mati.

“We are assuming they became trapped by the fire because it was so strong and so fast. Some were huddled together as if trying to protect each other. They were badly burned and have not been identified yet,” Haris Malimagolou from the Hellenic Red Cross told The Telegraph.

The official death toll from the wildfires, described as a "biblical disaster", stood at 74 on Tuesday night, but was expected to rise. 

Survivors described…