Nearly 150 firefighters are trying to bring the fire under control in the region near Patras, Greece’s third largest city. Airplanes and helicopters are also used to extinguish the fire. In addition, hospitals are ready to receive the injured and the highway between the peninsula and mainland Greece is closed.
More than 100 children evacuated
About ten houses have already been destroyed in the conflagration. At least five people were hospitalized with respiratory problems.
The Coast Guard rescued 15 people from the coastal area and more than 100 children were evacuated from a seaside camp, local media reported. The Navy is patrolling the coast to help people who are cornered by the fire from the area if necessary.
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The various fires in Greece have been raging since last Wednesday. Earlier this week, the fire also spread north of Athens. Houses went up in flames, but no one was injured.
Greece is struggling with what meteorologists say is a ‘historic’ heat wave. It is taken into account that the temperature can locally rise to 46 degrees in the coming time.
Fires in Southern Europe
Elsewhere in southern Europe it is also very hot and fires have broken out. In the south of Italy, firefighters had to turn out hundreds of times in the past 24 hours. The island of Sicily in particular is suffering from wildfires, after Sardinia was also hit by a major forest fire a week ago. But there are also forest fires in the southern regions of Puglia, Calabria and Campania and in the Lazio region, which includes the capital Rome.
Meanwhile, Turkish emergency services are still trying to control massive wildfires. Hotels in southern areas on the Mediterranean Sea had to be evacuated. Tourists have sometimes been brought to safety by boats. Six people were killed.
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