More Than 40 Killed As Mediterranean Wildfire Spreads To Algeria, Italy, Greece
More than 40 people have died in Algeria, Italy and Greece as Mediterranean wildfires threaten villages and holiday resorts, and thousands have been evacuated.
Greece is preparing for more evacuation flights from Rhodes, as fires also rage on the Islands of Corfu and Evia.
The current long heatwave shows no let-up – temperatures are expected to rise above 44 Celsius in parts of Greece.
Fires in Sicily and Puglia have forced thousands of people to flee.
The heaviest death toll so far is in Algeria, where the 34 victims included 10 soldiers surrounded by flames during an evacuation in the coastal province of Bejaia, east of Algiers.
Fires have also raged in neighbouring Tunisia, where 300 people had to be evacuated from the coastal village of Melloula.
In Greece, the civil protection ministry warned of an “extreme danger” of fire in six of the country’s 13 regions on Wednesday.
Read Also:
Heatwave Continues Across Europe, Expected To Peak Today
Italy has been hit by contrasting extreme weather events – with deadly storms in the north and wildfires in Sicily as well as several more southern regions.
Italy has been hit by contrasting extreme weather events – with deadly storms in the north and wildfires in Sicily as well as several more southern regions.
A couple in their 70s were found dead in a fire-gutted holiday home near Palermo, after fire came close to the boundary of the city’s airport. An 88-year-old woman also died near the city.
Parts of the city of Catania went without water and power after cables burned in temperatures that climbed to 47.6C on Monday.
On the mainland, in Calabria, just east of Sicily, a man aged 98 was trapped by flames in his home and his daughter and son-in-law suffered burns while trying to save him.
A wildfire in the Foggia region, on Italy’s Adriatic coast, forced the evacuation of 2,000 people from hotels and campsites. The blaze approached Vieste from a nearby national park.
The storms in the north, meanwhile, claimed two lives on Tuesday – victims of falling trees.
