Fires sweeps through Athens suburbs, thousands evacuated

Gulf Today Report

Wildfires rampaged through massive swaths of Greece’s last remaining forests for yet another day on Saturday and hundreds of people were evacuated by ferry from the island of Evia east of the capital.

Flames swept through a residential town outside Athens for a fifth day as wildfires burned across Greece, encroaching on more inhabited areas after burning scores of homes, businesses and farms.

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More than 700 firefighters, including reinforcements from Cyprus, France and Israel, have been deployed to fight the blaze, assisted by the army and water-bombing aircraft.

This picture shows flames near houses as a fire spreads in the village of Afidnes near Athens on Friday. AFP

In neighboring Turkey, fires described as the worst in decades have swept through stretches of the country’s southern coast for the past 10 days, killing eight people.

A fire threatening the Greek capital's most important national park killed one volunteer firefighter, while at least 20 people have been injured in blazes during the country's worst heat wave in 30 years. Thousands of residents and vacationers have fled approaching flames by land and by sea.

Authorities have battled more than 400 wildfires across the country in the last 24 hours, with the biggest fronts still burning in the north of Athens, Evia and areas in the Peloponnese including Mani, Messinia and ancient Olympia, the site of the first Olympic Games.

People board a ferry during evacuation as a wildfire burns in the village of Limni, Greece, on Friday. Reuters

One man died on Friday after being injured by electricity pylon in a fire-stricken area near Athens, and at least nine others have been injured, authorities said.

In apocalyptic scenes overnight and into Saturday, ferries evacuated 1,153 people from a seaside village and beaches on Evia, an island of rugged, forested mountains popular with holidaymakers and campers, after flames from a massive wildfire burning for days cut off all other means of escape. People clutched babies and carried older adults on chairs as they boarded the small ferries to safety.