In the south of France, large fires have driven residents and holidaymakers from their quarters, and fires are also blazing in Italy. The number of victims is increasing. In Sweden, on the other hand, rain causes flooding.
Rome / Toulon / Athens – The fight against the flames in southern Europe continues at full speed. The situation was particularly critical on Wednesday in France and Italy, where there were more victims. In Greece, the flames ate their way to a town.
FRANCE
The fire brigade in southern France continued to fight extensive forest fires with a large contingent. The authorities reported a fatality. The flames in the mountainous hinterland of the Bay of Saint-Tropez are not yet under control and 7,000 hectares of land have already been burned, the prefecture in the Mediterranean city of Toulon announced on Wednesday morning. Over 7,000 residents and tourists who had been brought to safety had to spend the night in 15 emergency shelters.
According to the broadcaster “France Bleu Provence”, a man about 50 years old was discovered dead by a friend in his burned-out house. According to the prefecture, five firefighters have so far been slightly injured during the operation, and around 20 people have suffered smoke poisoning.
The fires broke out on Monday after severe drought and heat. In addition, over 300 firefighters fought another fire near the southern French wine town of Beaumes de Venise in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. 130 people, including tourists, were brought to safety there.
ITALY
In the southern Italian region of Calabria, another person probably died in connection with the forest fires. The half-burned body of a 78-year-old was found in the Acquaro commune on Wednesday night, the Carabinieri of the neighboring Aren commune confirmed on Wednesday. According to the Ansa news agency, investigators are still investigating the circumstances of the death.
Violent forest fires raged in Calabria in the past two weeks. Four people have already died. The Aspromonte National Park, among others, was severely affected.
In northern Italy, fire departments in many municipalities continued to deal with the effects of heavy rainstorms. In South Tyrol, emergency services removed mud after streams overflowed their banks in the north of the province. In Veneto, the fire brigade counted hundreds of storms in two days by Wednesday.
GREECE
Firefighters fought an uncontrolled forest and bush fire in western Athens for the third day in a row. On Wednesday the wind turned and a sea of flames ate its way down from the mountains into deeper areas. The fire threatened houses in the area of the village of Vilia, as the television showed. Helicopters and fire-fighting planes, hundreds of firefighters and volunteers continued to try to contain the flames.
ISRAEL
A massive forest fire west of Jerusalem was extinguished after just under three days. This was confirmed on Wednesday by a spokesman for the Israeli Minister of Homeland Security, Omer Bar-Lev. The fire broke out on Sunday and, despite all the efforts of the fire brigade, had initially spread.
SWEDEN
Heavy rains have caused floods in eastern Sweden. The area around Gävle, where entire residential areas were under water on Wednesday, reported the TT news agency. The rain flooded the railroad tracks. The police asked people to stay at home – the start of school was canceled. dpa
