Greece is fighting a new wave of deadly fires on Tuesday, the second in the space of a month, which has already killed two people and forced many residents to evacuate.
Uncontrolled flames are raging in the northeast of the country, the island of Euboea near Athens and that of Kythnos, as well as in the region of Boeotia (center) north of Athens, with a dangerous mix of violent winds and temperatures up to 41°C.
“It’s a situation similar to that of July,” a spokeswoman for the fire department told AFP, referring to a previous wave of fires that killed five people.
Firefighters counted more than 60 fires that started in the past 24 hours. Six countries have sent aid through the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
Some 120 firefighters from Cyprus, Romania, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany and Serbia will contribute to the effort, firefighter spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told state television ERT.
On Tuesday, a new fire started on a piece of land in the Aspropyrgos industrial zone in the western suburbs of Athens, covering the area with a nauseating black cloud.
Monday evening, an evacuation order was given to the hospital in Alexandroupolis, a port city in northeastern Greece located in an area where fires are raging for the fourth day in a row.
The Coast Guard said it evacuated 65 patients to a ferry waiting in the port.
In the center of the island of Evia, the evacuation was ordered Monday evening in the industrial city of Nea Artaki where the fire damaged poultry and pig farms.
The flames also threatened Dadia National Park in the north of the country where a body, presumed to be that of an undocumented migrant, was discovered on Monday evening.
An elderly shepherd was also found dead earlier Monday in Boeotia.
Dadia Park, located near Alexandopoulis, is one of the most important protected areas in Europe, home to rare birds and the only breeding ground for black vultures in the Balkans.
The Greek army has announced to increase patrols in the area, a frequent entry point for migrants.
Very hot and dry conditions, which increase the risk of fires, will persist in Greece until Friday, according to the meteorological services.
On July 18, in the midst of a heat wave, a fire fanned by strong winds had ravaged nearly 17,770 hectares in ten days in the south of Rhodes, a popular tourist island in the South-East of the Aegean Sea.
About 20,000 people, mostly tourists, had to be evacuated.
08/22/2023 13:46:00 – Alexandroupoli (Greece) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
