Fire department officials in Greece have arrested two men for allegedly deliberately setting fires, while hundreds of firefighters battled wildfires that have killed at least 21 people in the past week.
One man was arrested on the island of Evia on Saturday for allegedly setting fire to dried grass in the Karystos area. The fire department said the man confessed to having set four other fires in the area in July and August.
A second man arrested on Saturday in the Larissa area of central Greece also was accused of intentionally setting fire to dried vegetation.
Officials have blamed arson for several fires in Greece over the past week.
It remains unclear what sparked the country’s largest blazes, including one in the north eastern region of Evros, where nearly all the fire-attributed deaths occurred, and another on the fringes of Athens.
“Some … arsonists are setting fires, endangering forests, property and above all human lives,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Thursday. “What is happening is not just unacceptable, but despicable and criminal.”
The minister said nine fires were set in the space of four hours on Thursday in the Avlona area in the northern foothills of Mount Parnitha on the north western fringes of Athens that is one of the capital’s last green areas.
A major fire was already burning on the southern side of the mountain at the time, and it continued to burn on Saturday.
Greece has been plagued by daily outbreaks of dozens of fires over the past week as gale-force winds and hot, dry summer conditions combined to whip up flames and hamper firefighting efforts.
Although most new fires were controlled in their early stages, some grew to massive blazes that have consumed homes and vast tracts of forest.
Storms were forecast on Saturday for some areas of Greece, and lightning strikes ignited several fires near the capital.
The Evros fire, Greece’s largest current blaze, was burning for an eighth day on Saturday near the city of Alexandroupolis after causing at least 20 deaths. Authorities issued evacuation orders on Saturday afternoon for three villages in the area.
Firefighters found 18 bodies in a forest on Tuesday, one on Monday and another on Thursday. The 18 included two boys aged between 10 and 15. With nobody reported missing in the area, authorities believe the victims might have been migrants who recently crossed the border from Turkey.
Source: AAP
