Thousands Of People Evacuated Due To Forest Fires In Greece, One City Catches Fire

A helicopter helps extinguish a forest fire in the village of Kryoneri, north of Athens, Greece, Thursday (5/8/2021).

JAKARTA - A massive bushfire in Greece swept through a residential town outside Athens overnight. The blaze continued for a fifth day on Saturday and hundreds of people were evacuated by ferry from the island of Evia, east of the capital.

Fires from Mount Parnitha on the outskirts of Athens have forced thousands of people to be evacuated since Thursday night by rescue workers who battled winds and high temperatures as they struggled to contain the spread of the blaze.

More than 700 firefighters, including aid from Cyprus, France, and Israel have been deployed to extinguish the red blaze, assisted by soldiers and water bombers.

Throughout the night on Saturday, strong winds pushed the flames into the town of Thrakomakedones and scorched several houses.

Residents have been ordered to evacuate and there have been no recent reports of casualties.

"It's unbelievable what we saw there," said Faik Zaimi, an officer at a children's summer camp near the town of Kapandriti.

"Thankfully we managed to save the camp, but we don't know if it's over," he said.

Forest fires broke out in parts of Greece due to the worst heatwave in more than 30 years.

The disaster scorched tens of thousands of hectares of forest land, destroyed homes and businesses, and killed animals.

Temperatures have hit 40 degrees Celsius or 104 Fahrenheit all week.

The fires on Evia, Greece's second-largest island, spread from one end of the Euboea Bay to the other overlooking the Aegean Sea.

Hundreds of people, including elderly residents, were evacuated by ferry late Friday from the town of Limni in Evia as the fire had already reached the coast and the sky had turned a terrifying red.

Authorities have worked to extinguish more than 400 fires across Greece in the past 24 hours, while the biggest blazes are still burning in northern Athens, Evia, and areas in the Peloponnese, including Mani, Messinia, and ancient Olympia, the site of the first Olympics.

One person died on Friday after being injured by an electric pole in a fire-hit area near Athens and nine others were injured, local authorities said.

In neighboring Turkey, authorities are battling the worst forest fires the country has ever seen.

The blazes swept across the southwest coast and forced tens of thousands of residents to flee.

Meanwhile, in Italy, hot winds fanned forest fires on the island of Sicily this week.