There has been a fire in Greece for twelve days: the situation on the holiday island of Rhodes is still not under control. Two pilots died when a fire-fighting plane crashed in Euboea. The flames are also raging in other countries around the Mediterranean.
Southern Europe continues to fight forest fires: strong winds fanned the fires on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Euboea. A new fire broke out on Rhodes near the village of Vati in the south-east of the island at noon. Meter-high flames spread in the direction of the already evacuated village of Gennada, eyewitnesses to the dpa news agency reported.
“We urgently need help, otherwise the south of the island will burn down completely by tomorrow,” said a firefighter. All forces were drawn to the current fire, there was a strong wind. Huge clouds of black smoke darkened the sky.
Firefighting plane crashed in Euboea
During the extinguishing work on the island of Euboea, a fire-fighting plane crashed. The two pilots, aged 34 and 27, were killed, the Hellenic Air Force General Staff said. The Greek Ministry of Defense ordered a three-day mourning for the armed forces. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also canceled a trip to the Republic of Cyprus planned for Wednesday, his office said. According to the fire service, the Greek Canadair plane crashed near the village of Platanisto.
State television released a video purporting to show the crash. You can see how the machine sheds water, flies to the side, loses altitude and hits the ground with the right wing. Then flames and smoke rise.
Mitsotakis: “We have a difficult summer ahead of us”
As the Greek civil defense announced, the risk of fire remains extremely high in almost all regions of Greece. Up to 44 degrees were expected today. According to the forecasts, it should continue to be hot on Wednesday, before the temperatures drop by up to five degrees on Thursday. “We are facing another difficult summer,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a cabinet meeting.
Firefighters from eleven European countries support the Greeks. According to the fire department, more than 260 firefighters fought the flames in Rhodes for the eighth day in a row. Nine fire-fighting aircraft and four fire-fighting helicopters are in use there; a spokesman said there were six planes and four helicopters on Corfu.
In Corfu, a fire that had been raging for days got out of control. For this reason, according to the information, three towns were evacuated. These are villages near the small port town of Kassiopi. According to the fire department, more than 60 emergency services fought in the north of the island. More than 90 firefighters were deployed near the city of Karystos on the second largest Greek island of Euboea.
More than 500 fires in the country
According to Civil Defense Minister Vassilis Kikilias, firefighters have been fighting more than 500 fires across the country for the past 12 days. According to the environmental organization WWF, 35,000 hectares of forest and other vegetation were destroyed in the past week alone.
Thousands of tourists and locals have been evacuated from the holiday islands of Rhodes and Corfu since the weekend. On Saturday alone, around 19,000 tourists and residents in Rhodes had to be evacuated from hotels and villages. Many of them have now left, some are still housed in emergency shelters such as gymnasiums and schools.
Fires in Algeria, Cyprus and Italy
Other countries in Southern Europe and North Africa are also suffering from extreme heat and fires. At least 34 people died in forest fires in Algeria. On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, more than a hundred firefighters brought a forest fire under control that destroyed around 20 hectares of forest in just one night.
On the Italian Mediterranean island of Sicily, firefighters also continued to fight several forest fires, one of which came close to Palermo airport. The airport was therefore closed for several hours.
Severe storms followed the heat in northern Italy, killing at least two people. As Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced, a 16-year-old girl was killed in a scout camp near the city of Brescia during the night when a tree fell on her tent. In the town of Lissone, a woman was killed by a tree. Wind gusts, heavy rain and hail also caused flooded streets and fallen trees in Milan.