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full screen The news about the consequences of the fireworks has also sparked outrage on social media. Archive image. Photo: Erik Johansen/NTB/TT
Anger is high in Greece after it became known that fireworks fired from a yacht started a forest fire on the tourist island of Hydra on Friday.
The fire – which is now extinguished – was caused “by a firework that was launched from a boat and burned the only pine forest on the island in a place that is difficult to access and lacks a road”, writes the local rescue service on Facebook.
The mayor of the island, Giorgos Koukoudakis, tells the public service channel ERT that he is “outraged that some people start fires in such an irresponsible way”.
The news has sparked outrage on social media as well.
Greece has recently increased the penalties for those who start fires that have a fatal outcome. Perpetrators now risk up to 20 years in prison and fines up to the equivalent of approximately SEK 2.2 million.
The country has braced itself for a particularly difficult summer with a high risk of forest fires due to high temperatures and strong winds. In recent days, wildfires have ravaged several parts of the country – and have so far claimed one life, a firefighter who was working on extinguishing work on the Peloponnese peninsula.