Violent fires continued on Saturday August 7 to devour thousands of hectares of forests in Greece.
In the country, the fires reached a record in areas burned on the 11th day of this "nightmare summer", according to the Greek Prime Minister, while the situation seemed to be stabilizing in neighboring Turkey.
"It is an abominable disaster. I am afraid that only my great-grandchildren will have the chance to walk again on this land. It is a huge disaster," said Tasos Tsilivakos in a sob. a retiree interviewed by AFP in Pefkofyto, north of Athens.
About thirty kilometers from the Greek capital, the violent disaster continued to advance with vigor towards the east and Lake Marathon, the largest water reserve in the capital, after causing the evacuation of a dozen of localities.
Its thick smoke and pungent smell had once again invaded the capital.
In the village of Pefkofyto, whose name means "pine forest" in Greek, only charred pines and the carcasses of houses remain.
The blaze left only a spectacle of desolation.
"When this nightmarish summer is over, we will repair all the damage," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised Saturday morning at the Athens fire department.
He pledged to reforest "as soon as possible" the burnt areas.
Several European countries are mobilizing
President Emmanuel Macron tweeted to him on Saturday that "France stands alongside Greece, hard hit by violent fires."
Paris sent 3 Canadairs and 80 firefighters, deployed since Thursday north of Athens.
France stands alongside Greece, hard hit by violent fires.
After exchanging with the Prime Minister @kmitsotakis, 3 Canadairs and 80 French firefighters and rescuers were deployed in emergency.
Solidarity, as Europeans, always.
- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 7, 2021
Also helped by reinforcements from Cyprus, Croatia, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine, at least 1,450 Greek firefighters continued on Saturday their fierce battle against five major fires north of Athens, on the island of Evia and on the Peloponnese peninsula.
On the Greek island of Evia, where the situation worsened on Saturday, more than 1,300 people were evacuated by boat overnight from the coastal village of Limni, surrounded by fire.
More than twenty others were evacuated Saturday morning from Rovies beach, also on this vast island 200 km east of Athens.
>> To read also: News in drawing: from North to South, the planet in the fight against extreme climatic phenomena
Fifty-five active fires were counted Saturday in Greece, where more than 56,000 hectares have been devastated in the last ten days, according to the European Information System on Forest Fires (EFFIS).
Some 1,700 hectares were burned on average over the same period between 2008 and 2020.
The Greek Interior Ministry has pledged emergency aid worth 1.5 million euros to the affected areas.
As of August 7, the areas burned in 2021 in Greece had exceeded 70,000 hectares, against an average of some 8,800 hectares over the period 2008-2020, according to data from EFFIS.
A preliminary UN report, to which AFP had access, qualifies the Mediterranean area as a "hot spot of climate change".
Improvement underway in Turkey
On the other hand, the situation seemed to be stabilizing on the Turkish coast, where 13 fires remained active on Saturday out of the 200 of the last days.
The providential rains that fell in southwestern Turkey have helped to improve the situation in the Antalya region.
According to local authorities, the fires are now under control, including in Manavgat, where the downpours continued on Saturday.
Turkish firefighters helped by many volunteers, however, continued their efforts in the Mugla region, where three neighborhoods were evacuated, according to the municipality.
On both sides of the Aegean Sea, hundreds of houses were destroyed in the face of the advancing flames, reinvigorated by the scorching temperatures.
Eight people died and dozens were hospitalized in the 200 fires that ignited southern Turkey for a week.
Two deaths are to be deplored in Greece, as well as about twenty injured, including two volunteer firefighters hospitalized in critical condition.
With a mercury oscillating between 40 and 45 degrees, Greece and Turkey are going through an exceptional heatwave, which experts unequivocally link to climate change.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR