Athens [Greece], July 19: For the second day in a row, Greek firefighters on Tuesday battled numerous fires in the greater Athens area.
Two firefighting planes from Italy and France are expected in Athens to reinforce the Greek firefighters, a spokesman said.
Early Tuesday morning, 23 Greek firefighting planes and helicopters were deployed. Two fires that sprung up around 10 and around 80km west of Athens on Monday remained a cause for concern.
The fires flared up again around midday near the resort town of Loutraki, east of Athens, due to strong winds. Thick smoke damage rose kilometres into the air from the region and was also visible on satellite imagery. The extinguishing work was also difficult in the hilly region of Vilia around 20 kilometres east of Athens, the fire brigade said further.
Numerous towns had to be evacuated as a precaution. The Greek Civil Defence Department contacted people by text message and told them to leave their homes. Emergency forces travelled to Athens from other regions of Greece to help, state radio reported. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune