Published: Less than 10 minutes ago
Hundreds of people have been forced to flee their homes due to an extensive fire in the mountains northeast of the Greek capital Athens.
A large number of aircraft and helicopters have been deployed to fight the fire.
The violent forest and terrain fires continue around Europe.
Strong winds make firefighting difficult in the Penteli Mountains 25 kilometers from Athens. The rescue service states that 16 aircraft and nine helicopters were used on Tuesday to water bomb the slopes.
Police and firefighters have helped the elderly escape their homes as the flames approached. A children’s hospital in the area has also been evacuated.
According to the authorities, buildings have been damaged or burned down, but there are no reports of injured or missing people.
Large clouds of smoke can be seen from central Athens.
Greece has so far survived relatively lightly in the heat wave that has gripped large parts of Europe. But the rescue service now warns that the drought and heat mean that the risk of forest fires increases significantly.
Spokesman Yiannis Artopios says four separate evacuation orders were issued on Tuesday.
– It has been a tough day, he says and adds that over 400 firefighters were deployed and that 300 police officers worked to direct traffic and patrol to prevent looting.
More than 1,300 square kilometers of land burned in Greece last year, which was the worst fire year since 2007.