ATHENS: A forest fire in central Greece has killed two men who were helping firefighters tackle the blaze, authorities said Monday.
The fire near Corinth, 140 kilometers (87 miles) west of Athens, has forced several villages to evacuate.
Anastasios Giolis, the deputy governor of Corinth, told public broadcaster ERT that two men were killed fighting the flames, calling it a “tragic accident.”
The men’s charred bodies were found near the village of Ellinikon, according to media reports.
Two firefighters were slightly injured, fire services told AFP.
The fire broke out on Sunday and spread rapidly due to strong winds, making it “difficult to control,” the fire services said.
Five localities near the fire were told to evacuate, including Pyrgos, Elliniko and Kallithea.
Fifteen vehicles, seven water bombers and three helicopters were deployed to fight the blaze on Sunday, according to the fire brigade.
Numerous regions of Greece were placed under an orange fire alert on Sunday and Monday due to winds reaching speeds of 50 to 75 kilometers an hour.
The summer wildfire season in Greece this year has seen daily blazes after the Mediterranean country recorded its warmest winter and the hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.
In August, a massive blaze near Marathon, 40 kilometers northeast of Athens, killed one person and forced thousands to flee their homes.
Two killed fighting wildfire in Greece
https://arab.news/5uq46
Two killed fighting wildfire in Greece
- Anastasios Giolis, the deputy governor of Corinth, told public broadcaster ERT that two men were killed fighting the flames, calling it a “tragic accident”
Bus plunges into ravine in Bolivia, killing at least 10
- The crash occurred near the community of Putina Cotamasa
- Emergency teams evacuated survivors and rushed them to hospitals
LA PAZ: At least 10 people were killed and several others seriously injured when a bus plunged about 100 meters (330 feet) into a ravine on Thursday night in Bolivia’s highlands, police said.
The crash occurred near the community of Putina Cotamasa, in Camacho province north of the capital La Paz, and prompted residents and local authorities to work hours on rescue efforts.
Images broadcast by local television stations and circulated on social media showed the scale of the disaster, including bodies of victims and injured passengers, among them minors.
Emergency teams evacuated survivors and rushed them to hospitals in La Paz, local media said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Such accidents are common in Bolivia, where conditions in rugged Andean terrain and along dirt roads linking cities with rural communities often worsen during the rainy season.
