High temperatures and strong winds make it difficult for firefighters to control fires. At least two people were killed, including a 38-year-old volunteer firefighter. Many must be infected.
More than 150 fires have been reported. Six regions are on high alert.
This is the reality of climate change, says Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Hundreds of firefighters are working against the flames. Additional firefighters are being sent from countries such as Ukraine, Romania, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, France and the United States.
About 20 firefighters will participate in the firefighting operation. Sweden is one of the countries that helps with two firefighting planes.
– Nikos Hardalias, Secretary General of the Hellenic Civil Protection Agency said in a previous statement that the fire service is facing very dangerous conditions that we have not seen before.
The fire is expected to spread due to high winds.
The flames also reached Evia Island and areas near ancient Olympia, Which is the birthplace of the Olympic Games. The site contains many historical monuments and buildings from antiquity.
Main effort: Locals use tree branches to fight a fire outbreak at Thrakomakedones, near Mount Parnitha, north of Athens,
Photo: Luisa Golyamaki/AFP
Many have been evacuated
1,300 people were evacuated from Limni in Evia. The roads were blocked and everyone had to evacuate by ferry.
About 5,000 tourists and residents had to be evacuated from a fire in the Peloponnese peninsula
And Mani’s mayor, Eleni Draculaco, says half of her city was reduced to ashes, she says, due to a lack of firefighting planes during the first hours it burned.
According to the authorities, 300 families were made homeless as a result of the fires.
Large clouds of smoke and ash near Athens also caused many people to leave their homes.
Pensioner Tasos Tsilifakos, who lives in Pefkolito north of Athens, struggles to hold back his tears.
– This is a terrible disaster. I am afraid that only our grandchildren will have the opportunity to go to these areas again, he tells AFP.
Evacuation: People board the ferry before evacuation as a fire approaches the coastal village of Limni on the island of Evvia.
Photo: SOTIRIS DIMITROPOULOS / AFP
control in Turkey
On the southern coast of Turkey, at least eight people have died and many have been hospitalized.
In the city of Antalya, authorities say they have got large-scale fires under control after it started raining.
Heavy rain is expected throughout the day Saturday, including in hard-hit Manavgat.
But the situation is still serious in Mugla province, where three districts have been evacuated.
More than 200 fires broke out in 47 of Turkey’s 81 provinces. 13 of them in five counties have yet to be quenched.
Many arrested
At the same time as rescue and firefighting work progresses, police in Greece have arrested several people for arson. Among them is a woman who was taken into a national park with lighters, a jug of petrol and flammable materials a few minutes after a fire broke out there.
Authorities banned visits to forests and national parks across Greece.
weather changes
For more than a week, both Greece and Turkey have been battling widespread fires in an unusually strong heat wave. Both authorities and researchers are linking heat to climate change.
According to the United Nations, the Mediterranean region is likely to be hit hardest by climate change, with stronger heat waves, droughts and fires in the future.
A resident tries to prevent a fire in Therakomacdonis, north of Athens.
Photo: Luisa Golyamaki/AFP
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