Fire near Athens leaves one dead, 18 injured, and thousands fleeing
At least one person has died, and 18 have been injured due to the fire that has been raging near Athens since Sunday. The fire in northeast Attica no longer has a single front, and firefighters are battling its scattered outbreaks, the Greek fire service reported.
Due to the fire risk, residents of parts of the coastal town of Nea Makri were called upon to evacuate early in the morning.
Meteorological services estimate that by Monday afternoon, the fire had covered a total area of approximately 25,000 acres, classifying it as a "mega-fire". How many people have had to leave their homes or the extent of the losses is unknown. The fire was recorded at 9 miles from the city centre and the Acropolis in the farthest points of the fire front.
Fire near Athens. There is a fatality
The charred body of a woman was found in a building in the town of Vrilissia, located in the north of Greater Athens, the Athens metropolitan area, as reported by the fire service. The Protothema portal wrote that the body was found in the bathroom, where a 62-year-old woman tried to hide from the fire.
This year's most severe fire in Greece broke out Sunday afternoon in Varnavas, 22 miles northeast of Athens and quickly spread towards the Athenian suburbs. Police have rescued over 250 people from the area threatened by the fire.
The media highlighted the very high dust concentration in the air in Attica following the fire's outbreak. People suffering from respiratory diseases are particularly vulnerable to this concentration.
On Tuesday, a very high fire risk occurs in Attica, parts of Euboea Island, and Boeotia. During the day, reinforcements from several countries will arrive in Greece as part of the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism. For now, about 700 firefighters, supported by other services and volunteers, are battling the blaze.
