ISTANBUL, July 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Several wildfires broke out on Saturday across European countries including Greece, Turkey and France, whose southern regions are battling multiple fires following a prolonged heatwave.
In Turkey, where firefighters have battled more than 600 fires in the drought-hit nation over the past week, authorities said a forestry worker injured while fighting the flames in the province of Izmir had died of his injuries.
The blaze, about 100 kilometres east of the coastal resort of Izmir, had already claimed the lives of an 81-year-old bedridden man and a 39-year-old forestry worker on Thursday.
The fire was brought under control on Friday evening, along with six other forest fires mainly in western and central Turkey, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on X.
But firefighters on Saturday were still battling a fire in the southern coastal area of Dortyol, near the Syrian border.
Turkey has largely escaped the recent heatwaves that swept southern Europe, but strong winds have intensified the forest fires.
French weather service Meteo-France said on Saturday the punishing heatwave that began on June 19 had officially ended on Friday, lasting in all 16 days — the same length as the country’s deadly 2003 heatwave.
That same day, however, the first major fires of the season broke out in the south, as well as in the Bouches-du-Rhone and Herault departments, leading authorities to shut down portions of a key motorway during the first weekend of the summer holiday season.
Traffic jams reached up to 10 kilometres in each direction on the A9 motorway, with water being distributed to the numerous motorists stranded under the blazing sun.
In Mireval, near the southern city of Montpellier, a blaze fanned by swirling winds led firefighters to evacuate about 10 people.
“It was very frightening, especially between 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm. The air was unbearable to breathe, there was a lot of smoke in the village, you couldn’t see anything anymore and large ashes were falling from the sky,” said 46-year-old resident Lorette Gargaud.
In Greece, a 52-year-old man was arrested on the island of Evia, accused of starting the fire that devastated part of the island between Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The man was allegedly clearing brush from a plot of land when the fire broke out and quickly got out of control, public broadcaster ERT reported.
Greek firefighters remained on high alert on Saturday due to high temperatures and strong winds across the country. — NNN-AGENCIES
