Greece was still in the grip of new forest fires on Tuesday, especially north of Athens, where some 300 people were evacuated, according to firefighters.

In Turkey, where the fires have killed eight people, the flames are approaching a thermal power station in Milas, in the south of the country. 

Greece was in the grip of new forest fires on Tuesday, especially north of Athens, where some 300 people were evacuated, according to firefighters.

After Mount Penteli last week, it was Mount Parnes, the second of three hills bordering Athens, which was on fire on Tuesday, spreading thick smoke over the Greek capital.

As the fires approached homes, three villages were evacuated at the foot of Mount Parnes, about thirty kilometers northwest of Athens, according to firefighters.

In Turkey, where the fires have killed eight people, the flames are approaching a thermal power station in Milas, in the south of the country.

"It's a tragedy"

"Our priority is to save lives, hence the decision to evacuate villages," said Tuesday evening, at a press conference, the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chryssohoidis, citing difficult conditions.

"It is a tragedy", entrusted on the television channel Skai, Spyros Vrettos, the mayor of the capital, Acharnon.

"Fortunately, no one's life is in danger."

The highway connecting the north to the south of the country was cut as a precaution and dozens of children were evacuated from a summer camp, according to Greek media.

Nearly 200 horses that were in riding centers were also moved unharmed, according to the Greek Riding Confederation.

Police said they had helped nearly 70 people who were stranded in their homes in communities surrounded by flames.

Civil protection said they had sent messages to residents of Varympompi, located on Mount Parnes, so that they remain on alert.

Varympompi is located near the ancient royal palace of Tatoï, from where precious works have been sheltered as a precaution.

In total, more than 500 firefighters, 70 trucks, five helicopters and seven water bombers are mobilized in Varympompi, according to the fire services.

A resident, on the Open TV channel, wonders in anger: "There was no wind. How could the firefighters not be able to quickly extinguish this fire?"

Athens is draped in a thick cloud of smoke.

The fire north of the Greek capital led to the evacuation of several houses.

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- Alexandros Kottis (@alexandros_kts) August 3, 2021

80 fires since Tuesday, 40 of which are still active

According to the Greek news agency ANA, sixteen unaccompanied minors from the Amygdaleza detention center located near the fire were transferred to a camp in Attica as a precaution.

If necessary, other migrants could also be moved to other structures according to the ANA.

Greece was faced with nearly 80 fires on Tuesday, 40 of which are still active, according to Deputy Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias.

"We are facing extreme conditions with temperatures around 45 ° C in Attica", added the minister, during the same press conference.

"The coming hours are decisive. The heatwave will continue to last, we ask citizens to be vigilant," he concluded.

In the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, 300 km from Athens, three villages were evacuated after a fire that broke out on Tuesday afternoon.

On the island of Kos, in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, firefighters ended Tuesday evening by controlling a forest fire.

Firefighters were struggling to contain another major disaster, underway since Sunday on the tourist island of Rhodes, which continued Tuesday to consume a forest.

Since last week, Greece has been hit by "the worst heatwave" in more than thirty years, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In Turkey, ravaged forests and agricultural land

In Turkey and Cyprus, intense heat waves saw ground-level temperatures soar to over 50 degrees Celsius for the second time in a month, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday.

These temperatures are those that one would feel if one touched the ground in a given place, according to the explanations of Nasa.

In recent days, temperatures above 40 ° C (in the air) in several cities in Turkey have caused a record increase in electricity consumption, leading to blackouts on Monday in major cities like Ankara. and Istanbul.

The European Union sent three water bomber planes to help Turkey fight the fires.

Ankara had already borrowed planes from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Iran, but the country has been feeling the consequences of the gradual disappearance of its own fleet of Canadairs in recent years.

The main opposition party, the CHP (Republican People's Party, Social Democrat), accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of having dismantled the infrastructure of a semi-public organization which in the past held bombers of water and who was in charge of firefighting.

Turkey is suffering the worst fires in a decade, devastating forests and agricultural land, as well as inhabited areas on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts.