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A MASSIVE WILDFIRE has killed two people as it ripped through forests outside Cyprus’s second city of Limassol, while at least 10 forest workers and rescuers were killed yesterday near Eskisehir in western Turkey while battling a wildfire.
It comes as Greece announced plans to “urgently” overhaul its water management as temperatures continued to rise during a week-long heatwave.
In Cyprus, wildfires have been fanned by strong winds and temperatures forecast to reach 44C, authorities said today.
Police said two charred bodies were found in a burnt out car believed to have been caught up in the blaze that erupted yesterday afternoon.
The cause of the blaze is “still under investigation”, but high “temperatures, strong winds and drought… made the situation even more difficult” said government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis.
Announcing relief measures for the affected communities, Letymbiotis earlier said that “what is unfolding in our country… is unprecedented” with “multiple simultaneous wildfire outbreaks”.
Health authorities said two people were admitted to hospital with severe burns while another 16 were treated for less serious injuries.
The blaze started in the village of Malia in the hills above Limassol and ravaged 100 square kilometres.
There are currently “no active fronts” in the fire but intense “flare-ups” continue in the area.
Cyprus has asked neighbouring countries to send aircraft to support the firefighting effort.
Letymbiotis said firefighting aircraft had arrived from Jordan, with more expected from Egypt, Israel and Spain “as soon as possible”, alongside assistance from the British air force base in the island’s south.
Cyprus is hit by wildfires almost every year during the island’s hot, dry summers.
In Turkey, a wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers yesterday who were battling to douse the flames near Eskisehir in western Turkey.
High temperatures and strong winds have fanned the wildfire between Istanbul and the capital Ankara since Tuesday morning, with the spread threatening homes and forcing the evacuation of several villages.
The victims were wrong-footed when the flames suddenly changed direction, causing them to be “burnt alive”, according to news website BirGun.
Twenty-four workers were caught in the “brusque evolution of the flames” of whom 14 were being treated in hospital, Agriculture minister Ibrahim Yumakli told broadcasters yesterday evening.
Turkey has been sweltering since Sunday under temperatures between six to 12 degrees above the seasonal norms and several fires have been declared.
Elsewhere, Greece yesterday announced plans to “urgently” overhaul its water management as temperatures continued to rise during a week-long heatwave.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the cabinet had discussed plans to make water companies more “viable”, noting that reserves in Athens were down 50% compared to three years ago.
There will be additional use of desalination technology and water reuse, the premier’s office said, adding that Greece globally ranked 19th in terms of drought risk.
The National Observatory of Athens recently warned that, following high temperatures and low rainfall in June, almost all of Greece displayed above-normal drought levels for this time of year.
Temperatures have continued to rise in a heatwave expected to last until Sunday.
In Athens yesterday, the heat reached 36.3C around 1:30 pm.
It is expected to rise to 42C today.
To protect visitors and guards, Greek authorities have closed the Acropolis in Athens during the hottest hours of the day, between 1:00pm and 6:00pm, until tomorrow.
The Greek government has also banned outdoor work in several sectors during the hottest hours to minimise health risks.
“It’s inhumane to work in such conditions. The asphalt is boiling,” Panagiotis Arvanitidis, 35, a member of the food delivery workers’ union in the Thessaloniki region (north), told AFP.
“The ambient temperature in my home over the past two days has exceeded 30C,” said 50-year-old medical saleswoman Anna Spania.
“Without air conditioning, survival is impossible!” she added.
The heatwave’s highest temperatures so far were recorded on Tuesday at Tragana, central Greece, at 44.9C, according to meteo.gr.
A Mediterranean country accustomed to intense summer heatwaves, Greece last year experienced its hottest summer on record.
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