Fires continue to rage in numerous holiday regions on the Mediterranean. There is still no all-clear in Greece, Italy and Turkey. On the contrary.
Athens – For a week now, fires have raged in large parts of southern Europe, including numerous popular holiday regions on the Mediterranean. And there is no end in sight for the time being: Greek meteorologists and the government in Athens are even warning that the devastating fires have not yet reached their peak. In particular, the prognosis that strong winds could rise in the next few days is of major concern to the authorities. Because the winds could make fighting the flames almost impossible and cause the fires to get out of hand. Temperatures should initially drop slightly in the next few days, but then rise again above 40 degrees.
The situation is also dramatic in Turkey: there the forestry office informed via Twitter on Thursday (August 5th, 2021) that 180 fires had broken out in the meantime, of which the emergency services had not yet been able to bring 15 under control. Meanwhile, the Turkish General Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a social media campaign. Under the hashtag #HelpTurkey, users had asked for international help in the fight against the fire. Since the fire broke out, the equipment of the emergency services in Turkey has been repeatedly criticized. The state news agency Anadolu reported that it is now being investigated, among other things, for “generating worry, fear and panic” in the population and inciting the people to hatred and enmity.
Fires in Greece, Italy and Turkey: Still no all-clear in sight
At the same time, the Greek fire brigade undertakes a tremendous show of strength to get the fire sources around ancient Olympia on the Peloponnese peninsula under control. In the end, the emergency services at least managed to contain the fire. “The site has been saved for the time being,” said the governor of the West Greece region, Nektarios Farmakis, on Greek state television. However, he warned that the threat to the Unesco World Heritage site has not yet been averted.
There can be no question of the all-clear on the island of Evia either: there, the population is fighting several large fires themselves. Volunteers cut aisles to prevent the flames from spreading; Chainsaws, tractors and garden hoses are used. Fire-fighting aircraft were initially not in use. the reason: Due to the numerous fires all over Greece, the capacities of pilots are full. On Wednesday evening, the Greek fire brigade counted a total of 116 fires within the past 24 hours.
In the south of Italy, too, emergency services continue to fight the flaming inferno using fire-fighting planes. The island of Sicily and the Calabria region, among others, are badly affected. Bulgaria has also continued to declare the second highest level of alert. This has been in effect since Thursday in 24 of the country’s 28 regions. (yw / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Eurokinissi / dpa
