The Greek government confirmed this Tuesday that at least 18 irregular immigrants died charred in a forest near the border with Turkey in one of the uncontrolled forest fires that have been raging in the country since the weekend.
“It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of at least 18 migrants as a result of the fire in the Dadia forest,” Immigration Minister Dimitris Kairides said, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.
In the absence of information that some residents of the area were missing, “the possibility that they are people entering our country illegally is being investigated,” said the fire department spokesman.
Kairides did not comment on the eight bodies located together in the Dadia area, nor on another body found this morning, which is also suspected to correspond to irregular migrants who would have entered Greece from Turkey.
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The Evros River, the natural border between the two countries, is one of the entry points to the European Union used by immigrants and refugees fleeing war and misery in their countries.
The Evros region is one of the most affected by the fires that have devastated more than 43,000 hectares, 38,000 of them in this region close to Türkiye.
Greece is affected by a long period of heat, strong winds and droughts.
The Greek authorities also urged on Tuesday to evacuate a peripheral district of Athens before the advance of a devastating forest fire, the second of the current summer season in the country, which left 20 dead in two days.
Firefighters urged the 25,000 residents of Ano Liosia, located northwest of the Greek capital, to leave their homes after several houses caught fire in the neighboring neighborhood of Fyli.
Greece faces a new wave with up to 60 fires since Monday in this southern European country, where temperatures exceed 40ºC.
“This is an unprecedented situation, with extreme weather conditions,” firefighter spokesman Yannis Artopios told Greek television channel ERT.
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![Greece](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2023/08/22/64e4f30ee55aa.jpeg)
Citizens evacuate during a forest fire in the Fyli area of Greece.
The flames continue to spread in the Alexandroupolis area and also on the islands of Euboea and Kythnos in the Aegean Sea and in the Boeotia region, northwest of Athens, fueled by a dangerous mix of strong winds and very hot temperatures.
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“Greece is suffering from fires on an unprecedented scale and in such situations the help of the European Union is vital,” said Janez Lenarcic, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management.
Six countries decided to send aid through the EU civil protection mechanism.
![Greece](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2023/08/22/64e4f29ab5c8a.jpeg)
Firefighters battle flames around a property during a forest fire in the Fyli area near Athens.
In addition to the Ano Liosa district, lower-altitude areas in Mount Parnitha National Park, one of the largest forests on the outskirts of Athens, are also on fire.
The authorities asked the inhabitants of that area to stay in their homes and closed several road accesses.
Another fire affects the industrial area of Aspropyrgos, west of the capital. A hospital in the Alexandroupolis metropolitan area had to be evacuated Monday night and 65 patients were transferred to a ship in the city’s port, authorities said.
*With AFP and EFE
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