Eighteen suspected asylum seekers have been found dead in a forest in northeastern Greece where a wildfire had been raging, according to the fire department.
The bodies were found near the national park of Dadia, a region bordering Turkey that is a frequent entry point for migrants and refugees, fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said in a televised address on Tuesday.
Hot, dry and windy conditions have seen dozens of wildfires break out across Greece, with the most severe entering its fourth day and encroaching on the northeastern port city of Alexandroupolis.
A school, several homes and a cemetery were damaged in two villages near Alexandroupolis, where more than 200 firefighters were battling the flames, supported by four airplanes and three helicopters.
Dozens more houses were damaged by another wildfire in the Kavala region, local authorities said.
Flames burn a tree as a wildfire rages in Alexandroupolis, on the region of Evros [Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters]
A separate fire in the Evros border region was burning through the forest in a protected national park, with satellite imagery showing smoke from the Evros region blanketing much of northern and western Greece.
Near Athens, a new fire broke out in the Aspropyrgos area on the capital’s western fringes Tuesday morning, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for two villages in the area.
‘Extreme’ risk
The fire risk level for several regions, including the wider Athens area, was listed as “extreme” for the second day on Tuesday.
Authorities have banned public access to mountains and forests in those regions until at least Wednesday morning and ordered military patrols.
Greece suffers destructive wildfires every summer. Its deadliest wildfire killed 104 people in 2018, at a seaside resort near Athens that residents had not been warned to evacuate.
Authorities have since erred on the side of caution, issuing swift mass evacuation orders whenever inhabited areas are under threat.
