Greek Wildfires Force 300 Sea Evacuations From Agios Vasileios as Crete Fire Keeps 8,000 Displaced
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 31
Greek Wildfires Force 300 Sea Evacuations From Agios Vasileios as Crete Fire Keeps 8,000 Displaced
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 31
Summary
More than 200 people were evacuated by boat from Agios Vasileios and another 100 were due to leave after a fast-moving wildfire trapped mostly tourists in the coastal town.
Strong winds drove the blaze to the town's outskirts after it broke out Friday morning in Viotia, while a second fire ignited further along the same coast and burned through farmland into Xironomi.
Thousands of hectares have already burned on Crete, where firefighters are still tackling hotspots after a wildfire earlier this week forced the temporary evacuation of 8,000 people.
Heatwaves across southern Europe have worsened fire conditions, with Spain already recording more than 200,000 hectares burned this year, Portugal battling a 15,000-hectare blaze, and Turkey reporting 206 wildfires since Wednesday.