SOUTHERN EUROPE INCLUDING GREECE

ATTACKED BY DEADLY FIRES

A new rise in mercury suffocates Greece and the tourist countries of the Mediterranean area on Wednesday.

The Greek authorities on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of the outskirts of two cities in central Greece, Volos (85,000 inhabitants) and Lamia (60,000 inhabitants), where a new front of fires broke out in the daytime. Thousands of tourists have already been evacuated from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu, ravaged by fires favored by the heat wave.

The situation would be "out of control".

the General Secretariat for Civil Protection declared a state of emergency on the whole island on Wednesday 26 July. Source says situation is 'out of control'

More than 20,000 people had to evacuate their homes and hotels on the island of Rhodes over the weekend as the fire started a week ago and spread to the shores of the green island. More than 2,000 holidaymakers left the island by plane on Monday July 24, and new flights took place on Tuesday July 25 as several holiday companies canceled trips to Greece.

In Rhodes, 266 firefighters helped by counterparts from Turkey and Slovakia and supported by three helicopters and two planes are still trying to contain the flames. The fire burns for the ninth day in a row. More than 40,000 hectares burned on Rhodes.

At least a hundred firefighters continued their fight against the flames on Wednesday on the island of Euboea where two Greek air force pilots died in the crash of a water bomber.

In Corfu, 62 firefighters, two planes and two helicopters are on site to fight the fire which started last weekend. And in the western Peloponnese, on a fourth important front, 140 firefighters and a helicopter are also fighting against a forest fire.

Italy too !

The situation is also difficult in other countries around the Mediterranean. In Italy, at least five people have died in fires in Sicily and violent thunderstorms in the north, which could prompt the government to declare a state of emergency in the most affected regions.

Videos posted on social networks show the flames along a highway in front of flabbergasted travelers near Syracuse, while an impressive supercell thunderstorm near Verona (north) was captured by Internet users;

In Croatia, a fire broke out on Wednesday near Dubrovnik, a historic and tourist hotspot. On the island of Corsica, firefighters fought all night against a virulent fire and managed to control it on Wednesday.

In Portugal, where fires had already consumed more than 110,000 hectares last year, eight firefighters were injured and hundreds of others remained mobilized on Wednesday to prevent the spread of a forest fire which broke out the day before in the surroundings of the tourist resort of Sintra.