16 spectacular photos of the devastating fire in Greece

Three Athens suburbs were evacuated this Tuesday due to a violent fire that devastated homes, vehicles and business premises, and caused incidents in the transport network and electricity supply of the Greek capital, which lives the worst heat wave in decades.

The flames have already burned many houses and one camp, as they reached the main square in the Varibombi suburb and are near an air base and a monastery, Greek media reported.

Although at present there are no data on casualties, media reported several calls to the police by citizens locked in buildings and several police and firefighters trapped in the flames as they tried to help people get out of their vehicles.

Authorities cut off the highway for a few hours and several train lines connecting the capital to the north of the country have been suspended.

Meanwhile, the Electricity Distribution Company (ADMIE) has warned of the risk that dozens of populations east of the Attica capital will experience power cuts due to two electrical circuits were hit by the flames, a day when the population faced temperatures well above 40 degrees and minimum temperatures very close to 30.

The fire started at noon near the Tatoi Palace in Athens, which was the summer residence of the former Greek royal family, and as it approached the residential area Civil Protection sent SMS alerts asking people closest to the flames to leave the area and residents of another suburb to close windows and chimneys to prevent smoke from entering their homes.

Among the evacuees were around 80 children from a children’s camp and the Olympic Village built for the Athens 2004 Games. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the Fire Brigade Coordination Center this afternoon to oversee firefighting operations.

For his part, the head of civil protection of Attica, Yorgos Patulis, assured that, Although the winds in the area are not too strong, their constant change of direction makes the job of extinguishing difficult. and reported several small explosions in recent hours.

Some 350 firefighters They are present in the area with 70 vehicles, 5 helicopters, 5 seaplanes as well as volunteers.

Also this Tuesday, there were several fires in other parts of the country, such as the island of Evia, where two villages and several summer camps were evacuated, and on the island of Kos, where fire threatens a protected natural area and the sanctuary Asclepieion, the most important archaeological site on the island.

(Photo / s: Reuters)

(With information from EFE)

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