Two die in Greek fires as Belgium battles record High Fens blaze
Two people were found dead after fires on Greece’s Salamis island while Belgium deployed international air support against its largest modern wildfire.
In short
- Two people were found dead after fires on Greece’s Salamis island while Belgium deployed international air support against its largest modern wildfire.
Two people died in wildfires on the Greek island of Salamis as Belgium continued battling the largest blaze in its modern history near the German border on Sunday, August 16.
A Greek fire department spokesperson said the two bodies were recovered in the Peristeria beach area after separate fires broke out on Salamis. Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate.
In Belgium, a wildfire that began on Friday had burned about 3,000 hectares in the High Fens nature reserve by early Sunday. Around 600 residents of Waimes and Bütgenbach in Liège province were told to leave their homes as winds shifted and smoke spread.
More than 250 firefighters and emergency workers were deployed, supported by German personnel. Two Swedish water-bombing aircraft and four helicopters from Belgium and the Netherlands were assisting because the reserve’s forests and peat bogs make access difficult for heavy vehicles.
Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said two fire fronts towards Jalhay and Monschau were under control on Sunday afternoon, though all available resources remained mobilised. Officials described the High Fens fire as Belgium’s largest in modern times.
The emergencies come amid intense heat and widespread wildfire conditions in several parts of Europe.
