A firefighter battles a raging inferno near the Greek capital, Athens. For the fifth day in a row, the country is bracing itself against massive vegetation fires. The fire fronts in the northeast in particular spread further, but fire brigades and volunteers also fought desperately against the flames near Athens.
Even when the fire crews have brought a fire under control, smaller fires continue to blaze – like here a tree on Mount Parnitha near Athens. Parnitha is the green lung of Athens and is also a national park area.
Plumes of smoke over the Greek capital Athens and parts of Attica caused by a fire in Fyli, a suburb north of Athens, near the Kleiston Monastery of the Assumption at the foot of Mount Parnitha. Because of the fires, air quality has deteriorated massively in large parts of the country in recent days. A report in the newspaper Kathimerini According to the report, up to 80 percent of the country’s surface has been covered by clouds of smoke.
Many volunteers try to support the fire crews in their work. Here two men are seen in the town of Menidi near Athens, desperately trying to save a house from the flames.
In the north-east of the country near the port and border town of Alexandroupoli, the bush fires are particularly violent. Because of the extraordinarily strong wind, the fire brigade teams are unable to get the fire under control, despite the use of helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft.
The attempts of the fire-fighting crews seem quite desperate given the extent of the fire. Overall, there are at least 15 major or larger fronts in Greece, satellite images show on Wednesday.
Many wild animals, like this turtle in a forest north of Athens, were unable to escape from the flames.
In the town of Fyli, a northern suburb of Athens, the fires have left little. The damage is immense.
18 migrants are said to have burned to death in this completely destroyed building in the village of Avanta near Alexandroupoli.
A man tries to bring to safety an icon of Mary with Jesus from the monastery of Agia Paraskevi in Acharnes, north of Athens.