In Italy, the rescue workers continue to fight numerous forest fires across the country. The regions requested the assistance of fire-fighting planes 34 times, the civil protection authority announced on Thursday evening. The inquiries came from Calabria in southern Italy, Latium - where the capital Rome is - and from the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. The authorities could not send planes to three fires. There the fire brigades had to fight the flames on the ground. Most fires are caused by careless or malicious behavior, the agency said.
Nationwide, the fire brigade spoke of 240 bush fires in which it was deployed.
Flames have raged on the holiday island of Sardinia since last weekend and caused great destruction and damage amounting to millions.
On Thursday evening, the local fire brigade reported new sources of fire in the province of Oristano in the west of the island.
In southern Italy, the fire brigade reported dozens of missions that evening.
A tent camp was evacuated in Scanzano Jonico in the Basilicata region.
In Agrigento, Sicily, firefighters stood in front of a five-kilometer fire front.
In the area around the city of Palermo, the rescuers went out more than 40 times in connection with the fires.
Drought, heat and sometimes strong winds in the past few days favored the spread of the flames. In contrast, it looked completely different recently in northern Italy. Heavy rain caused floods and landslides there. The provinces around Lake Como in Lombardy were badly affected.