Greek authorities on Tuesday said that the bodies of at least 18 people have been found in a forested area in northeastern Evros region in Greece which was struck by a major wildfire for the last four days, said officials.
Authorities are examining the possibility that the deceased people are migrants who reportedly entered Greece from the nearby border with Turkey, said Ioannis Artopios, a spokesperson of the Greek fire department, AP reported. No missing reports have been filed in the area.
The bodies were located near a shack in the Avanta area in the city of Alexandroupolis. Greece’s Disaster Victim Identification Team to identify the bodies.
Dozens of wildfires, promulgated by hot, dry and windy conditions in Greece, have broken out across the country. The wildfire in Alexandroupolis is the most severe case that entered its fourth day.
Two people had perished to the wildfires on Monday and two firefighters were wounded as the fire risk level for several regions was listed as ‘extreme’. Public access to mountains and forests in hazardous regions has been banned by authorities.
According to BBC, the flames reached the grounds of the Alexandroupolis’ university hospital and newborn babies and intensive care patients were among those evacuated to a ferry berthed at the city’s port.
The fire also spread close to the Kleiston monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, home to at least 50 nuns. A disaster response team has been deployed there for rescue missions.
Emergency messages have been shared to all the mobile phones in the area as temperatures reached as high as 39 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Tens and thousands of people have been asked to leave parts of the north-west Ano Liosia, a suburban area in Athens. Several villages have also been evacuated on the island of Evia and in Boeotia in central Greece.
Greece is one of several European countries currently at extreme risk of wildfires, as per the European Union’s (EU) climate monitoring service Copernicus. High temperatures have been recorded in France and Switzerland as well.
The Evros region is one of the most popular routes for Syrian and Asian migrants crossing the River Evros from Turkey into the European Union.
(with inputs from multiple agencies)
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