Greece battles wildfires near Athens and on Evia island - BBC News

Evia residents watching wildfires, 5 Aug 21

Greece carried out mass evacuations overnight in the northern suburbs of Athens and on the nearby island of Evia as wind whipped up huge wildfires.

Thousands had to leave their homes near Athens and 600 left Evia by boat. Acrid smoke hangs over the Greek capital.

Gale-force winds are forecast to fan the many blazes. Firefighters from France, Switzerland, Sweden, Cyprus and Romania are assisting Greece.

Wildfires are also raging in North Macedonia and southwestern Turkey.

North Macedonia has declared a state of emergency, and there are several blazes in neighbouring Albania and Bulgaria. The fires began spreading in the region in late July.

A fire that flared up in the north Athens suburb of Varybobi gained strength on Thursday and spread to adjacent areas, near Mount Parnitha, the Kathimerini newspaper reported.

Further east, residents of Vothonas and Marathon were told to head to the coast on Friday as wildfires spread along several fronts.

Dozens of homes have been destroyed or damaged. No deaths have been reported, but several dozen injured people are now in hospital.

"If some people still doubt if climate change is real, let them come and see the intensity of phenomena here," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires. Greece has had a week of temperatures above 40C (107 Fahrenheit) and vegetation is bone-dry.

The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

In Kourkoloi on the island of Evia resident Ioannis Aslanis told AFP news agency "it's a disaster, everything burnt in the village".

The heatwave has also made Turkey's wildfires the most intense on record - the fires have killed eight people, injured several hundred and forced thousands of residents and tourists to flee.

On Thursday firefighters managed to prevent the flames reaching a coal-fired power station at Kemerkoy, in Mugla province. The province, which includes the resort of Marmaris, has seen 55,000 hectares of forest engulfed by flames. Fires swept across the hills behind Marmaris.

Critics have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government of failing to prepare adequately for such a disaster. They say Turkey's response was too slow and firefighters were under-resourced.

Mr Erdogan however described these as Turkey's worst-ever wildfires, and the government accused the Turkish Aeronautical Association of failing to update its aircraft.

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