Mati, Greece – Yorgos Asimakos ran into the sea in his clothes and shoes. His son, Nikos, was right beside him, and was the one who moments earlier had saved him by guiding him down a narrow flight of stairs that led to the beach.

“There was black smoke everywhere and I panicked, I didn’t know where to go,” recalls Asimakos, 62. “Nikos was to my right but I lost sight of him so I shouted, ‘Don’t leave me’; if he hadn’t returned, I’d be dead.”