Wednesday 22 / January / 2025
Firefighters, including teams from Germany and Sweden, on Wednesday scrambled to tame a wildfire on the edge of the Greek capital, Athens.
Meanwhile, in northern Greece, an investigation was launched into racist violence and unfounded rumors that migrants had started fires.
The wildfire tore through the foothills of Mount Parnitha, the largest forest adjoining the capital, with evacuations ordered early on Wednesday for several outlying neighborhoods and a migrant camp.
Strong winds have fanned the blaze, which began early on Tuesday and has already destroyed homes and cars.
Some 65 fire-fighting platoons were in action, with an aerial operation involving seven fire-fighting planes and eight helicopters.
"Conditions remain difficult and in many cases extreme," fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said in a televised address.
Germany, Sweden, Croatia and Cyprus have also sent water-dropping aircraft to Greece, with Romania and the Czech Republic sending water tanks and firefighters.
Satellite images on Wednesday showed there were at least 15 major wildfires in Greece.
The largest was raging for a fifth day in the northeastern Alexandroupolis region where, a day earlier, rescuers found the bodies of 18 people thought to have been migrants.
