Italy and Greece continue to battle wildfires

This summer has been marked by wildfires across the northern hemisphere. A forest fire wreaking havoc on an Italian island has led to the evacuation of 700 people, reports DPA. The Italian Ministry of Health also announced that a red heatwave alert is in effect in 16 cities across Italy. Evacuations targeted a campground and several residential buildings, as announced by the Civil Protection Agency of the Tuscany region on the X online platform, formerly known as Twitter. Fourteen hectares were consumed by flames, but by Tuesday morning, the fire was under control. The forests between the towns of Rio Marina, Porto Azzurro, and Ortano were particularly affected by the fire on Elba, a popular tourist island. No casualties have been reported so far. According to firefighters, the fire spread rapidly due to the wind. In a large part of the rest of the country, residents are facing temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius, as indicated by the Ministry of Health. The northern and central regions of Italy are particularly affected. According to the meteorological service Ilmeteo.it, due to the high-pressure area "Nero," temperatures in cities like Rome, Florence, and Bologna could reach 38 degrees Celsius.

Greek firefighters ordered the evacuation of a district in the northern part of Athens on Tuesday, threatened by major fires that are affecting Greece for the second time this summer. Tens of thousands of people are being called to leave the Ano Liosia district, bordering Fyli, where houses were seen engulfed in flames. Also on Tuesday, 18 charred bodies were discovered in a remote rural area south of the village of Avantas in northern Greece, an area affected by vegetation fires for several days, firefighters announced. The 18 bodies are believed to be migrants, as reported by the Greek press, without citing sources. Uncontrolled flames are burning in the northeast of the country, on the islands of Evia and Kynthos, as well as in the central Boeotia region, north of Athens, in a dangerous meteorological context marked by strong winds and temperatures of up to 41°C.