16 photos of the gruesome fires of Greece: The worst fire in 30 years continued for a week, 10% of the forest destroyed; Rescued 2700 people from 141 villages
More than 1,450 Greek firefighters backed by at least 15 aircraft were battling the blazes, with reinforcements arriving from abroad, the fire service said.
Greece’s Avia island has been blazing for the past week. The forest fire here on August 3 spread to 141 nearby villages. Since the arson, 2700 people have been rescued by running 63 rescue operations here. 2 have died. A bulldozer driver was among the dead. The condition of 2 volunteers still remains critical.
10% of Greece’s forest has been destroyed in this fire. Firefighters are trying day and night to put out the fire.
The fire started in the forests of the city of Patras. Gradually it reached 141 villages and people had to run away from home.
According to reports, 93 thousand hectares of forest have been burnt so far. This is sure to have a bad effect on Greece’s ecosystem.
Due to the arson, the heat has increased in many nearby states. Greece has become the hottest country in Europe at the moment. Earlier this summer was in 1987. At that time, 1 thousand people died due to heat wave.
After burning the house, people have come on the streets. Police is probing the cause of the arson. Three people have been arrested.
The fire is spreading more rapidly due to strong winds blowing in the forests along the seashore.
So far 20 countries have come forward to help against the fire in Greece. This also includes Germany and America.
Helpers include France, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Kuwait, Israel, Moldova.
Apart from this, Romania, Qatar, Serbia, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, Spain, and the US have also helped.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he understood the pain of those whose house burned down before their eyes.
A relief package of 4 thousand 300 crores (US$ 587 million) has been issued.
This money will be used to help those whose houses were burnt due to arson.
The Prime Minister of Greece said that firefighters have put out the fire at 560 places. According to scientists, the average temperature will increase by 1.5 degrees in the coming decade. When the fire spread through the forest to the villages, people were rescued in this way by ship.
