Athens woke up Wednesday in thick black smoke, with a burning smell, and Greek firefighters are fighting for the fifth consecutive day, on several fronts throughout the country, fires that have already killed at least twenty people.
On the foothills of Mount Parnes (Parnitha in Greek), the second of the three hills that surround Athens and where the largest forest is located near the Greek capital, a fire devoured a forest area that had not been affected by the flames for over 40 years.
Firefighters were trying to prevent the fire from reaching Parnès National Park. This fire has already destroyed houses and buildings in the inner suburbs, in Hasia and Fyli, and threatens the suburb of Menidi.
“Unfortunately, the wind is not helping us at all,” Menidi deputy mayor Stathis Topalidis told state television ERT.
On Tuesday, civil protection ordered the evacuation of the Ano Liosia district, populated by some 25,000 people and located in the northwest of Athens near Fyli. A number, however, stayed at home in an attempt to protect their homes.
Another major outbreak was still raging in a landfill in an industrial area of ??Aspropyrgos in the western suburbs of Athens.
In the northeast of the country, near the border with Turkey in the Evros River region, two out-of-control blazes were still raging in Alexandroupoli and in the Dadia forest, threatening the Dadia national park which is home to rare birds. of prey.
New evacuation orders were given in this region during the night.
On Tuesday, 18 suspected migrants were found dead near the Turkish border north of the city of Alexandroupolis. Among them were two children, according to the police.
The flames continue to rage in the islands of Euboea and Kythnos in the Aegean Sea, in Boeotia north of Athens and in the west of the country.
Another fire that broke out on the island of Samothrace in the Aegean Sea on Tuesday was contained overnight, but the island remains without electricity.
More than 40,000 hectares were destroyed by the fires in three days, from August 19 to 21, according to a report by the National Observatory of Athens.
Intense heat and dry weather conditions that increase fire risk will persist through Friday, according to weather services.
08/23/2023 11:59:19 – Athens (Greece) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
