In Pictures
Greece: 700 firefighters battle to bring massive fire under control
Wildfires are common in Greece and other Southern European countries during their hot, dry summers.
A massive wildfire that destroyed vast tracts of forest in northeastern Greece over two weeks is in abeyance, although hundreds of firefighters are still tackling burning pockets.
Authorities also warned parts of the country were at risk of flooding from heavy rainstorms forecast overnight and on Tuesday that could pose a particular threat to fire-ravaged areas.
Reinforcements were sent over the weekend to battle the wildfire burning in the Evros region near the border with Turkey. The blaze has been blamed for the deaths of 20 people, all believed to be migrants and refugees who recently crossed the border.
“There is no active front in the Evros area right now,” Greece’s minister for civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said. “We remain on alert and the battle obviously continues.”
The fire, which broke out on August 19 near the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis and joined other blazes to form one massive wildfire, burned more than 93,000 hectares (230,000 acres) of land by Sunday, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service, making it the largest blaze to hit an EU country since records began in 2000.
Dozens of fires have been breaking out each day across the country for weeks with the fire department saying its forces tackled 82 wildfires between Sunday and Monday.
With its firefighting forces stretched to the limit, Greece appealed for help from other European countries and has received hundreds of firefighters, as well as a fleet of planes and helicopters from across the continent.
