Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 24 July 2018
Forest fires rage on either side of Athens; at least 3 dead

By ELENA BECATOROS fighting crew from the
DEREK GATOPOULOS northern city of Thessalon-
Associated Press iki. Other towns and cities
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — were sending water trucks
Two major forest fires raged and volunteer firefighters.
out of control on either side The second major blaze
of Greece's capital Mon- broke out Monday after-
day, leaving at least three noon in the Penteli and
people dead, injuring doz- Rafina areas northeast of
ens, burning houses and Athens. Children's summer
sending people fleeing to camps and a seaside re-
beaches and into the sea, sort for military officers were
where coast guard boats evacuated, as well as resi-
battled gale force winds to dences in the area. Dozens
evacuate them. of homes and cars were re-
Regional authorities de- portedly destroyed.
clared a state of emer- There was no official figure
gency in the western and on how many people were
eastern parts of Attica, the evacuated overall.
greater Athens area, while The fire was burning into
Greece called on the Euro- the town of Rafina, turning
pean Union for assistance the sky above the nearby
with aerial and ground sup- port that serves ferries to
port in helping battle the the Cycladic islands black
flames. Greece said Cyprus from the smoke. The high-
offered to send firefighters way to the nearby town of
while Spain offered water- Marathon was closed to
dropping aircraft. traffic.
The coast guard said it had Rafina Mayor Vangelis
transported the bodies of Bournous said he believed
three people — a man, a about 100 houses in the
woman and a girl — which area had been burned. The
were passed on by firefight- fire service was not able to
ers for transport to the port confirm the figure.
of Rafina northeast of Ath- It was not immediately
ens, near the location of clear how any of the fires
one of the two major fires. started. Forest fires are
The head of the Health Min- common in Greece during
istry's emergency coordina- the hot, dry summers and
tion office said two burned the country has been fac-
bodies had been transport- ing high temperatures re-
ed to a hospital in Athens. It A firefighter sprays water on the fire in the town of Mati, east of Athens, Monday, July 23, 2018. cently of up to 40 degrees
was not immediately clear Associated Press Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
whether the bodies were A third fire burned farmland
among those taken by the The coast guard was and tackle these fires," ments were sent in from and woods on the south-
coast guard or were addi- searching with a helicop- Prime Minister Alexis Tsip- across Greece. ern island of Crete, while
tional casualties. ter and patrol vessel for ras said in Bosnia before Local communities were in northern Greece a for-
The Health Ministry said 56 eight people, believed to cutting short a visit there evacuated and the blaze est fire in the area of Sou-
people had been hospital- be Danish tourists, who had to return to Athens. "What shut down a nearly 20-ki- fli was being battled by 50
ized, most of them suffering fled the flames near Rafina concerns us is that there lometer (13-mile) section firefighters. The fire depart-
burns, with 11 of the injured in a boat and were report- are fires occurring simulta- on two highways linking ment said three fires also
listed in serious condition. ed missing. Another two neously." the Peloponnese with cen- broke out in the area of
At least five major hospitals who had been in the same Speaking after arriving in tral Greece. Thick smoke Corinth in southern Greece.
in the capital were put on boat were rescued by a Athens and being briefed reduced visibility on the The worst fire season by
alert for more potential ca- passing ferry about 3 nauti- on the situation, Tsipras said highway to mere meters far occurred in 2007, when
sualties. cal miles (5.5 kilometers, 3.4 more than 600 firefighters (yards). large swaths of forest and
Boats delivered people to miles) east of Rafina and and 300 vehicles were in- Several houses were in farmland burned, mainly in
docks still dressed in noth- were in good health. volved in fighting the fires. flames, footage from the Peloponnese in south-
ing but swimsuits, while port The coast guard said the "It's a difficult night for the Greek TV station Skai ern Greece, killing more
police took down names as same ferry also rescued Greece," he said. showed. Some residents than 60 people.q
they disembarked. seven other people who The first major fire broke out used garden hoses to try to
Several other fires broke out had fled into the sea, but in a pine forest near the save their properties while
across the country, includ- none were from the miss- seaside settlement of Kine- others escaped in cars and
ing in northeastern Greece ing boat. The coast guard ta, 50 kilometers (30 miles) on mopeds.
and the southern island of sent five vessels to rescue west of Athens between Hours after the blaze be-
Crete, stretching Greece's people trapped on nearby the capital and Corinth. At gan, flecks of ash swirled
firefighting capabilities. beaches by the flames. It least 220 firefighters were down onto central Athens.
Gale force winds that fre- said initial reports indicated on the scene there while Authorities sent 17 more
quently changed direction about 80-85 people need- five water-dropping planes firefighting vehicles along
and continued into the ed evacuation by sea. and seven helicopters with 45 firefighters to Kineta
night were hampering fire- "We are doing everything helped to fight the blaze from elsewhere in Greece,
fighting efforts. humanly possible to tray from the air. Reinforce- as well as a 30-man fire-