Wave of fires sweeps Greece and Tenerife does not stop burning

By Euronews in Spanish with EFE

Published 8/22/2023 – 1:59 PM

Fires spread in Greece and Tenerife. They have had to urgently evacuate a Greek hospital in Alexandroupoli: 90 patients to a ship, 114 to other hospitals. In Tenerife, the fire calms down after razing some 15,000 hectares.

The fires multiply in Greece and the Spanish island of Tenerife does not stop burning. This was the urgent evacuation in several ambulances of the patients of a Greek hospital that was threatened by the flames. The image gives an idea of ​​the severity of the fires in Greece.

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The most serious is that of Alexandroupolis, where these images were recorded. Ninety patients were transferred to a ship and the other 114 to hospitals.

According to the state television ERT, some explosions were heard in the hospital compound, probably due to the explosion of oxygen tanks and other devices.

ERT explained that the danger that hung over the hospital shortly before 6:00 local time appears to have been brought under control thanks to the large deployment of firefighters on the scene.

The wave of fires has already left at least two dead in the country

According to the Greek media, the charred body of a man was found yesterday in a rural area on the outskirts of the city and the local police suspect that he is an immigrant and, for the moment, have not been able to identify him.

This is the second fatality of this new wave of fires after a farmer who tried to save his animals in the Boeotia region died of smoke poisoning yesterday.

In the last few hours, two firefighters have been slightly injured while trying to contain a fire that threatened homes in the town of Dialekto, in the city of Kavala, also in the northeast.

Apart from the evacuation of the hospital, the firefighters issued evacuation orders this morning also for eight towns in the northern regions of Alexandroupoli.

“The last 48 hours, unfortunately like the next 48, are exceptionally critical due to strong winds and high temperatures that are creating extensive fronts of fire,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias said.

The forces that fight the fire have been reinforced in the last hours with the presence of more than 200 firefighters and the Army has also been deployed in the place.

Likewise, the European Union (EU) deployed yesterday two planes from Cyprus and a team of Romanian firefighters to fight the fires in Alexandroupoli, through the community civil protection mechanism.

In northern Greece, new sources of fire have been added near the border with Turkey, including in the Dadia National Park.

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The smoke clouds caused by the fire are of such a size that they can be recognized on satellite images, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.

The high temperatures, the environmental dryness and the winds, that increase the risk of fires, will persist in Greece until Friday, according to the meteorological services.

In this way, the risk situation continues with alert levels ranging from yellow and orange to red in almost the entire country.

The fire in Tenerife calms down

While in Spain, in Tenerife the authorities have pointed out that the devastating fire that has affected the island for a week is beginning to stabilize, although they indicate that there are days left for its total control.

Described as the area’s worst wildfire in decades, the fire has already razed some 15,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of more than 12,000 people.

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