European firefighters join battle against wildfires

Greece’s largest active forest fire was burning out of control for the fifth day near the city of Alexandroupolis in the country’s northeast

Athens: Water-dropping planes from several European countries joined hundreds of firefighters on Wednesday battling wildfires raging for days across Greece that left 20 people dead, while major blazes also burned in Spain’s Tenerife and in northwestern Turkey near the Greek border.

Greece’s largest active forest fire was burning out of control for the fifth day near the city of Alexandroupolis in the country’s northeast, while authorities were trying to prevent a blaze on the northwestern fringe of Athens from scorching homes and reaching the Parnitha National Park, one of the last green areas near the Greek capital.

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Over the last three days, 209 wildfires have broken out across Greece, Fire Department Spokesman Ioannis Artopios said on Wednesday. The blazes, fanned by gale-force winds and hot, dry summer conditions have led authorities to order the evacuations of dozens of villages and the main hospital in Alexandroupolis.

Although gale-force winds were gradually abating in many parts of the country, the risk of new fires remained high. “Conditions remain difficult and in many cases extreme,” Artopios said.

Firefighters searching recently burnt areas in the Alexandroupolis region discovered the bodies of 18 people believed to be migrants in a forest Tuesday. Another two people were found dead on Monday, one in northern Greece and another in a separate fire in central Greece.

With firefighting forces stretched to the limit, Greece called for assistance from other European countries. Germany, Sweden, Croatia and Cyprus sent water-dropping aircraft, while Romania and the Czech Republic sent dozens of firefighters and water tanks.