In both Greece and Turkey, hundreds of firefighters still have to work unabated. Heavy fires have been raging in both countries since mid-week; On Saturday, residents and tourists were removed from the affected areas.
Four villages in the path of a massive forest fire have been evacuated on Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula. Local media report that the Coast Guard also evacuated a seaside holiday camp – more than 100 children were taken from there. The fire is raging in the region near Patras, the third largest city in the country. Access to the affected peninsula has been closed, and additional patrols are underway along the coast to pick up people trapped by the fire.
Photo AP
Photo Andreas Alexopoulos/AP
People in Turkey were also evacuated by boat on Saturday. The AP news agency describes how lifeguards in the popular seaside resort of Bodrum have set up an evacuation plan to transport tourists. Local authorities have called on private yacht owners to deploy their vessels; 4,000 people should be evacuated according to The Guardian.
Turkish Agriculture and Forests Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said on Saturday that most fires are now under control. That has been a difficult job since the fires broke out on Wednesday, due to the high temperatures and strong winds that continued to fan the fire. Many villages have been affected, and there are now six deaths in Antalya and Muğla provinces, with five fatalities in Manavgat and one in Marmaris, both tourist attractions. Two firefighters are among those killed in Manavgat, AP reports.
source https://pledgetimes.com/evacuations-in-turkey-and-greece-over-fires-now-six-dead-in-turkey/
Disqus comments