Athens (EFE)
In adverse weather conditions, with high temperatures and strong winds, some 270 troops are participating in the arduous attempts to contain the flames in Rhodes, which have already burned more than 14,000 hectares of forest, in addition to killing a large number of animals.
In addition, some 19,000 people, including 7,000 tourists, had to be moved to safe places in Rhodes, in what has been the largest evacuation operation recorded so far in Greek history, according to information provided by the country’s fire brigade.
Today, the flames continue to burn in a vast area that includes the center and south of the island, near the eastern coast.
Hundreds of troops and volunteers have worked throughout the night to prevent the fire from reaching the town of Malonas and the coastal town of Kalathos.
Out of control fires in Corfu and Euboea
Meanwhile, the media are reporting that another major forest fire has reignited on the northwestern island of Corfu, keeping firefighters busy for the third day in a row.
This fire led the authorities to evacuate at dawn on Monday, as a precautionary measure, some 2,500 tourists from coastal towns in the northeast of the island.
However, they were later able to return to their places of accommodation after the flames were contained, which to date are burning in the mountains, without threatening the tourist facilities on the coast.
Also on the island of Euboea, northeast of Athens, more than a hundred firefighters were still fighting another fire today that continues for the third consecutive day out of control around the coastal town of Caristo.
According to local authorities, one person -a rancher- has been missing since last Sunday in this area, where the flames forced the evacuation of nine towns and reached the town of Platanistós and Potami, burning several houses.
Extreme temperatures and strong winds
Dozens of other smaller sources spread throughout the Hellenic territory keep firefighters busy throughout the country and raise the alert for fires, caused by unusually high temperatures, drought and strong gusts of wind.
To fight the fires, Greece has received help from France, Italy, Croatia, Romania, Poland, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Slovakia.
In the middle of a wave of several days of extreme heat, the thermometers marked 46.4 degrees on Sunday in the city of Gitio, in the Peloponnese, the highest temperature ever recorded in the Hellenic country.
According to the National Meteorological Service, the heatwave will continue until Thursday, when a significant drop in temperatures is expected (between 5 and 7 degrees).