Mass evacuations as Greece wildfires rage on
Athens: Thousands of tourists and residents were evacuated and a thick cloud of smoke and ash hung over Athens as forests fires that have already killed two people raged for an 11th day in parts of Greece.
At least 1,450 Greek firefighters were battling the infernos along with 15 aircraft, with reinforcements arriving from other countries, the fire service said.
The blazes are set to continue with strong winds and temperatures of up to 38°C forecast in some regions yesterday.
Greece and Turkey have been fighting devastating fires for more than a week as the region suffers its worst heatwave in decades – officials and experts linking such intense weather events to climate change.
A UN draft report seen by AFP labelled the Mediterranean region a “climate change hotspot” and warned that heatwaves, droughts and fires would become more fierce in the future, supercharged by rising temperatures.
The Greek fire service yesterday said blazes were raging in the Attica peninsula that includes Athens, in Evia, the country’s second largest island and located east of the capital, and the Peloponnese region in the southwest.
One of two people killed in Greece was named as Konstantinos Michalos, the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He was found unconscious in a factory in Krioneri and was later confirmed dead in hospital.
On Friday, a 38-year-old man from Ippokrateio, a town north of Athens that has been ravaged by the flames, died in hospital after being hit by a falling electric pole as he was riding a moped.
In Turkey, eight people have been killed and dozens more hospitalised during 10 days of fire.
North of Athens, a fierce blaze tore through vast areas of pine forest, forcing yet more evacuations of villages overnight and blowing thick, choking smoke and ash all over the Greek capital. Part of a motorway linking Athens to the north of the country has been shut down as a precaution and migrant camps were evacuated.
In the Evia village of Limni, more than 1,300 people fled the fires on ferry boats. Another 23 were evacuated yesterday morning from the beach at Rovies.
Local authorities on the island called for more air support in the firefighting efforts.
Another major blaze was burning in the southern Peloponnese region of Mani, where the deputy mayor of East Mani, Eleni Drakoulakou, told state broadcaster ERT that 70% of her area had been destroyed.
“It’s a biblical catastrophe. We’re talking about three-quarters of the municipality,” Drakoulakou said, pleading for more support from water-dropping aircraft.