Greece discovers 18 charred bodies as fires rage in southern Europe

ALEXANDROUPOLIS, Greece, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Eighteen charred bodies They were found in a remote village in northeastern Greece on Tuesday where wildfires have been raging for days, the fire brigade said, as a heat wave which has made the red alerts issued throughout southern Europe have become deadly.

Firefighters said they were investigating whether the bodies, found near a shack south of the village of Avantas, were immigrants. The surrounding Evros region is a popular route for migrants from the Middle East and Asia crossing from Turkey.

In Spain, Italy and Portugal, firefighters were battling blazes as the region suffered from hot, dry and windy conditions that scientists have linked to climate change.

Temperatures in many parts of the region were expected to reach or exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), forecasters said. Italy and France declared a red alert in several areas.

The last heat wave comes after a July that was the hottest month on file. Some 20,000 people were evacuated in Greece rhodes island in mid-July and a serious fire hit La Palma, Spain.

burns hawaii The island of Maui earlier this month killed more than 110 people, while Canada This week he deployed the military to British Columbia to fight fast-spreading fires.

In Greece, hurricane force winds have complicated efforts to control the fires.

“The weather conditions are extreme and will continue to be extreme for the next few days,” Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis told ERT TV.

Fifty-six firefighters arrived in Greece on Tuesday from Romania and Athens was hoping for more help from the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany and Sweden.

HOSPITAL EVACUATION

The 18 bodies were found south of the village of Avantas, near the vast Dadia forest, authorities said. Another body believed to be that of a migrant was found on Monday in a rural area some 40 kilometers away.

“Since there have been no reports of disappearances or disappearances of neighbors in the surrounding areas, the possibility that they are people who entered the country illegally is being investigated,” the fire department said. He said searches were ongoing.

In the Greek port city of Alexandroupolis, not far from Avantas, wildfires have forced the evacuation of dozens of hospitalized patients, including newborn babies. A ferry became a makeshift hospital after 65 patients were evacuated from the University Hospital.

Elderly patients lay on mattresses scattered across the cafeteria floor, paramedics tended to others on gurneys and a woman held up a man who was lounging on a sofa, an IV drip attached to his hand.

“I have been working for 27 years, I have never seen anything like this,” said nurse Nikos Gioktsidis. “Stretchers everywhere, patients here, drips there… it was like a war, like a bomb had gone off.”

Fires also broke out near the capital Athens on Tuesday, where a fire on the outskirts of the city at the foothills of Mount Parnitha burned houses and forced residents to flee.

FIRES Strike SPAIN AND ITALY

In Spain, where most of the country was at very high or extreme risk of wildfire in the midst of the fourth heat wave of the summer, authorities were struggling to stabilize a massive wildfire that has been ravaging forests in the tenerife island for a week.

The fire has burned 15,000 hectares in 12 municipalities, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.

In neighboring Portugal, authorities have placed more than 120 municipalities in the northern and central areas, as well as parts of the Algarve, a popular holiday destination in the south, at maximum risk of wildfires due to the heat.

More than 100 firefighters backed by 10 planes were battling a forest fire that broke out Monday night in the northern city of Baião.

In Italy, some 700 people were evacuated after a fire broke out on Monday on the Tuscan island of Elba, in the forest between Rio Marina, firefighter Alessandro Vitaliano told Reuters. No casualties have been reported.

Italy issued red alerts for hot weather in 16 of the country’s 27 major cities on Tuesday, including Rome, Milan and Florence, with the number set to increase on Wednesday. A red alert denotes “emergency conditions,” the Health Ministry said, advising people not to go out during the hottest part of the day.

MOUNTAINS AND VINEYARDS AFFECTED

In France, four southern regions – the Rhone, Drome, Ardeche and Haute-Loire – were placed on red alert, the country’s most serious warning.

Climbers were told to delay climbing Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest peak, due to high temperatures.

Grape harvesters in the wine-growing regions of South of France It has been advised to start working on the harvest first thing in the morning to avoid the suffocation of the heat wave at the end of summer.

Temperatures were expected to reach a high of 42°C in the Rhône Valley over the next 48 hours.

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