ATHENS: Residents were evacuated on Saturday as a wildfire which started in mountainous forests in the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos threatened properties at the beach resort of Vatera.
Thick billowing smoke fanned by strong winds could be seen in the area. One fleeing resident told state TV ERT that her home was on fire.
“We are battling to save homes,” Taxiarchis Verros, mayor of western Lesbos, told the broadcaster.
Vatera, an 8 km (five miles) long sandy beach in the southern part of Lesbos, is a popular tourist attraction.
A wildfire in mountains near Athens earlier this week damaged homes and forced hundreds of people to flee, with authorities calling this summer one of the toughest in the Mediterranean.
Last year, wildfires ravaged about 300,000 acres (121,000 hectares) of forest and bushland across Greece during the country’s worst heatwave in 30 years.
Greek authorities evacuate coastal properties on Lesbos as wildfire spreads
https://arab.news/g82b6
Greek authorities evacuate coastal properties on Lesbos as wildfire spreads
- Last year, wildfires ravaged about 300,000 acres of forest and bushland across Greece
Spain eyes full service on train tragedy line in 10 days
- The Jan. 18 disaster in the southern region of Andalusia partially shut the line linking Madrid and Seville
- “After the replacement, the whole of the Madrid-Seville line will resume service,” said Puente
MADRID: Spain aims to restart within 10 days full service on a key high-speed railway line where a collision between two trains killed 45 people, the transport minister said on Wednesday.
The January 18 disaster in the southern region of Andalusia — one of Europe’s deadliest such accidents this century — partially shut the line linking Madrid and the city of Seville as investigators cleared the wreckage and collected evidence.
“Today we have received legal permission to proceed with the replacement of the infrastructure in the section of the accident,” Transport Minister Oscar Puente wrote on X.
“Our aim is that it is completed in a timeframe of approximately 10 calendar days. After the replacement, the whole of the Madrid-Seville line will resume service,” he added.
The line was Spain’s first high-speed rail connection when it opened in 1992, with the network expanding to become the world’s second-largest after China’s and a source of national pride.
But the accident has raised doubts about the safety of rail travel in the country.
A preliminary report released last week suggested the track was cracked before a train run by private firm Iryo derailed and smashed into an oncoming service operated by state company Renfe.
