Fires in Greece: 55 killed, antique sites threatened

Greek fires threaten ancient city

There are fears for the ancient ruins of Olympia, a world heritage site and home to the first Olympics, as Greece's devastating forest fires close in.

Water-bombing planes are trying to suppress the flames near the site, and nearby villages have been evacuated.

More than 50 people have died since fires burst out on Friday. They are still burning and nearing villages in the south, on islands and near Athens.

The Greek PM has implied that many fires were started deliberately.

In a nationally televised address, Costas Karamanlis said: "So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence.

"The state will do everything it can to find those responsible and punish them."

A 65-year-old man has been charged with arson and murder relating to a fire which killed six people in Areopolis, in the far south of Greece.

Two youths were also detained on suspicion of arson in the northern city of Kavala.

Mr Karamanlis has declared a nationwide state of emergency and said the country had to "mobilise all means and forces to face this disaster".

Caught unawares

"Fires are burning in more than half the country," fire department spokesman Nikos Diamandis said.

"This is definitely an unprecedented disaster for Greece."

The fire services said dozens of new fires had sprung up on Saturday, and a Nasa satellite picture showed numerous plumes of smoke, many in the west of the Peloponnesian peninsula.

"We're going to burn alive here," one woman told Greek television from the village of Lambeti, near the site of ancient Olympia.

She was echoing the fears of many Greeks, who heard horrifying news reports throughout Saturday of people being trapped by walls of flame.

The rapidly advancing fires caught many people unawares. Those who left the decision to flee too late were caught in their houses, cars, or as they stumbled through olive groves.

Late on Saturday church bells rang out in the village of Kolyri near Olympia, warning residents to get out as soon as possible.

One local villager, speaking to Greek television by telephone, told of the battle to save homes:

"We have no water, we are at God's mercy," they said. "Please tell someone we are putting out the fire with our own hands, we have no help. The village will disappear from the map."

Groups of firefighters and soldiers are patrolling the ancient site of Olympia itself, which did upgrade its fire protection system for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Sun obscured

At least 39 people were reported to have been killed in the worst affected region, around the town of Zaharo in the western Peloponnese, by a fire that broke out on Friday and quickly spread. Another four bodies were discovered in the central Peloponnese region of Arcadia.

Towns on the island of Evia were being evacuated on Sunday, with ferries carrying people to the mainland near Athens.

"The fire is racing towards the town," a resident of the island town of Aliveri told Greek TV.

"We are leaving or else we will burn to death. There is no one to help us," he said.

Meanwhile Athens itself was shrouded in smoke that obscured the sun as several fires threatened the city's outskirts.

Houses and industrial buildings in the suburbs of Keratea and Kalyvia were destroyed.

"This is complete hell," said Kalyvia mayor Petros Filippou.

"The front is 30km (19 miles) long and has now reached the first houses. That's it."

'I feel anger'

Among many tragic stories to emerge, one that shocked many Greeks was that of a mother who burned to death with her four children. They died clutching each other.

"I feel deep grief for our dead," Prime Minister Karamanlis said in his address.

"I feel deep pain for the mother who perished in the flames with her arms round her children. I feel anger - the same that you feel."

The heat wave that has left much of Greece's countryside so vulnerable to fire was set to continue on Sunday. Winds were expected to be lower than in previous days, but still sufficient to fan the flames.

Hundreds of firefighters are attempting to dampen the flames, with assistance from hundreds of soldiers.

EU countries responded to Greece's appeal for help, with France, Spain and Italy sending firefighting aircraft. Others sent helicopters, fire engines or firefighters.

It sounds as though they may not be prepared for major bushfires as a matter of course?

dlowan wrote:

It sounds as though they may not be prepared for major bushfires as a matter of course?

That may be - but who's really prepared for fighting more than 170 huge incendiary forest fires? And those fires are going on since weeks.

The inferno of those fires was also sparked by a heatwave in which temperatures climbed above 40°C, fuelled by 80km/h winds that prevented firefighting planes and helicopters from taking off.



It seems to me that it is more an affair about why and how those incendiaries happened ... (which doesn't dimish my sorrow about those dozens dead persons, especially those numerous innocent children!)

What do you mean incendiary?


Are you suggesting they are deliberately lit?


Isn't this another of the joys of climate change?

What do you mean incendiary?


Are you suggesting they are deliberately lit?


Isn't this another of the joys of climate change?

Thank you for the updates, Walter.