In total more than 35,000 people have had to abandon their homes, although this number could be much higher since many summer residences of Athenian residents are also located in this area.
Hundreds of firefighters are fighting a large forest fire this Monday for the second consecutive day. Strong winds have pushed it to the gates of Athens and has forced the authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of people.
The fire broke out on Sunday near the town of Varnavaabout 40 kilometers north of Athens. It spread rapidly during the night towards the south until it reached near the town of Penteliabout 15 kilometers north of Athens and on the edge of the urban fabric of the Greek capital.
This summer it was announced as special risk in Greece due to high temperatures.
Massive deployment of firefighters
Some 700 firefighters with 183 trucks, 17 planes and 15 helicopters tankers operate in the area to contain the flames, which extend over a front of about 30 kilometers. In the early hours of this Monday, the authorities ordered the evacuation of eight towns south of Mount Penteli, which joined the more than 15 already evacuated further north on Sunday.
In total More than 35,000 people have had to leave their homesalthough this number could be much higher since many summer residences of Athenian neighbors are also found in this area.
They also had to be two hospitals evacuatedone pediatric and another militaryas well as two monasteries. last summer The monastery of Hosios Loukas in Stiri was damagedin the center of the country.
Summer forest fires are dramatically frequent in Greece. Already in June there were several threats of fire that were stopped in time.
Additional sources • Enrique Barrueco (Voice-over)
