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by Yannick Pasquet ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Rain overnight in wildfire-ravaged areas of Greece have helped “improve the situation” on Thursday, a local mayor said, but hundreds of firefighters were still battling to contain new flare-ups. Fires fanned by Greece’s most severe heatwave in decades — which authorities have blamed on climate change — have burnt through nearly 100,000 hectares over the last fortnight, leaving three dead, hundreds homeless, thousands forced to evacuate, and economic […]
by Alexandros KOTTIS PAPPADES, Greece (AFP) — Stunned, Kostis Angelou wanders between the corpses of his goats, all 372 of them burnt by a fire that devoured forests on Evia island in Greece. “I’m lost,” he sighs, “I can’t take it anymore.” The goats lie on the two flanks of a hill blackened by the blaze that burnt for more than a week in the north of Greece’s second biggest island. Up there, in the […]
by Yacine Benrabia with Abdelhafid Daamache in Algiers TIZI OUZOU, Algeria (AFP) — The death toll climbed to at least 69 as firefighters, soldiers and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria on Wednesday, in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time. […]
by Evan GERSHKOVICH YAKUTSK, Russia (AFP) — Alexander Fyodorov peered out his office window towards the vast forests where wildfires had been raging for weeks around the Siberian city of Yakutsk. It was a rare day for this summer — for once the sky in the world’s coldest city was not shrouded in a sepia orange toxic smog, produced by the third straight year of increasingly massive blazes. In Yakutia, known as Sakha in its […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Hundreds of firefighters were battling to control two massive wildfires in Greece on Wednesday, one raging for nine straight days, that have left hundreds homeless and caused incalculable damage. With the assistance of a huge multinational force, Greek fire crews were fighting to beat back blazes on the island of Evia and in the Peloponnese peninsula in rugged terrain. “I think we can say that the fire fronts are slowly coming […]
ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — Wildfires fanned by blistering temperatures and tinder-dry conditions have killed at least 42 people in Algeria, authorities said on Tuesday, adding that the fires had criminal origins. Late Tuesday the toll stood at 25 soldiers and 17 civilians killed. Photographs posted on social media show huge walls of flame and billowing clouds of smoke towering over charred trees in the forested hills of the Kabylie region, east of the capital Algiers. […]
GREENVILLE, United States (AFP) — Before one of California’s worst-ever wildfires hit Greenville, the sky turned dark red like a warning. After the flames tore through the tiny town, all that remained was charred walls, ash and smoke. The horrific consequence of the Dixie Fire was captured by AFP in a series of before and after photos from the monster blaze that has consumed hundreds of structures and forced thousands to flee. “I watched in […]
by Alexandros Kottis with John Hadoulis in Athens AVGARIA, Greece (AFP) — Backed by a huge multinational force, Greek firefighters on Tuesday struggled for an eighth day to control wildfires on the island of Evia that have caused massive damage, prompting an apology from the prime minister. Nearly 900 firefighters, reinforced overnight with fresh arrivals from abroad, were deployed on the country’s second largest island as major towns and resorts remained under threat. Most of […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials Tuesday to send in reinforcements to fight forest fires that continue to tear through Siberia. Wildfires have ripped through Siberia’s forests with growing intensity in recent years, which Russian weather officials and environmentalists have linked to climate change and underfunded forestry management services. Putin ordered Russia’s emergencies ministry to “increase the group for extinguishing fires” and “raise the intensity of the work of aviation” in […]
ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — At least five people have died in raging wildfires in Algeria as firefighters battle more than 31 blazes amid blistering temperatures and tinder-dry conditions, officials said Tuesday. Photographs posted on social media show huge walls of flame and billowing clouds of smoke towering over villages in the forested hills of the Kabylie region, east of the capital Algiers. Algeria is the latest Mediterranean country to be hit by wildfires, after blazes […]
by Alexandros KOTTIS with Katerina NIKOLOPOULOU in Athens GOUVES, Greece (AFP) — Hundreds of Greek islanders packed up their belongings and fled their homes on the Greek island of Evia on Sunday as wildfires continued to rage after a record heatwave. Greece and neighbouring Turkey have been battling the devastating fires for nearly two weeks, with 10 people confirmed dead and dozens needing hospital treatment. While rain brought some respite from the blazes in Turkey […]
Hundreds of firefighters fought fires that have devoured record numbers of woodlands in Greece on Saturday and left hundreds of families homeless, but heavy rains brought respite to hard-hit Turkey. More than 1,450 Greek firefighters backed by at least 15 aircraft were battling the blazes, with reinforcements arriving from abroad, the fire service said. In Pefkofyto, in the north of Athens, pensioner Tasos Tsilivakos struggled to contain his tears. “This is a horrible disaster,” he […]
