Evacuation orders have been issued for areas close to two central Greek cities threatened by new outbreaks of wildfires.

Citizens in areas around Volos and Lamia have been told to move to safety as the country remains in the grip of a severe heat wave.

Meanwhile, fires continue to rage on the islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Evia.

Greece is one of a number of countries currently grappling with wildfires, in which more than 40 people have died.

Two people have died in the fires near Volos, the fire service has confirmed  a farmer who died after he went to release his sheep to protect them, and a woman who was in a mobile home in Chorostasi.

Kostas Agorastos, Mayor of Greece’s Thessaly region, which includes Volos, has accused “brainless workers” of starting the fire, according to the Ellada 24 news channel.

He added that it had broken out on four simultaneous fronts.

In Rhodes, where a state of emergency is in place and from where thousands of tourists have been forced to flee, high winds have continued to fan the flames and villages remain at risk.

Some firefighters, who have been battling the blazes for days, have begun to lose hope.

“Every day, every night, we are here and we achieve nothing,” Savas Filaderis, who is from Rhodes, told the Reuters news agency.

“We can’t stop it,” he said.

“Everybody, all the people, they fight. The civil people, the government, they are but… for nothing. I believe we fight for nothing.”

In Southern Italy, fires in Sicily and Puglia have also been fuelled by high winds and tinder-dry vegetation, meaning firefighters have been struggling in many areas to douse the flames and create firebreaks.

BBC/Adebukola Aluko

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group

pub-5160901092443552

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *