The burned bodies of 18 suspected migrants were today found in a remote rural area in northern Greece where wildfires have been burning for days.
A series of ferocious wildfires are continuing to wreak havoc and incinerate homes across the nation and have triggered mass evacuations from tourist hotspots.
Firefighters are desperately trying to douse the flames with water but the blaze is raging though the Evros region in northeastern Greece and close to the capital of Athens.
The wildfires, which were sparked by a dangerous mix of 41C heat and gale-force winds four days ago, have killed 20 people and destroyed dozens of homes across the country.
Authorities said they believe they have found the burned bodies of 18 migrants near a shack in the Avanta area north of the city of Alexandroupoli.
‘Given that there have been no reports of disappearances or missing residents from the surrounding areas, the possibility that these are people who entered the country illegally is being investigated,’ fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios.
Officials believe the suspected migrants entered the region via Turkey, a popular route for those travelling to Greece illegally.
‘Searches throughout the entire area where the fire broke out are ongoing,’ Artopios added.
The wildfires are continuing to burn unchecked in the northeast of the country near the port city of Alexandroupolis, on the islands of Evia and Kynthos, as well as the region of Boeotia north of Athens.
A farmer rushes to evacuate his horse during a wildfire at the area of Fyli near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday
A house burns in Avanta, near Alexandroupoli, northern Greece, amid ferocious wildfires on Tuesday
Beehives burn during a wildfire at the area of Fyli near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday
A volunteer tries to extinguish a wildfire burning in Hasia village, near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday
Blazes burn a forest in Distomo, Viotia, central Greece, on Tuesday. The fire in Viotia, started from a settlement behind the Aluminum of Greece factory in Aspra Spitia on 21 August and the strong winds very quickly led the fire to develop a huge front in all directions
A burnt car and warehouses are seen from above in the village of Palagia, near Alexandroupolis town, on Tuesday
This aerial photograph taken on Tuesday shows the incinerated campsite in the village of Saranti following a wildfire, near Prodromos,
Firefighters try to tackle a wildfire raging in Alexandroupolis on Tuesday
A wildfire burns a house in Avantas village, near Alexandroupolis town, on Monday
Pictured: A map showing the location of wildfires tearing through Greece
‘There are nine active fronts… it’s a similar situation to July,’ a fire department spokeswoman said, referring to a wave of wildfires that left five dead last month.
The latest deaths of 18 suspected migrants pushed the overall toll from this week’s fires to 20, after another suspected migrant was found dead in the area Monday.
An elderly shepherd had also been found dead north of Athens on Monday.
In Alexandroupolis, where flames have come perilously close to the University hospital, 65 patients were evacuated in the early hours of this morning onto a ferry in the city’s port as a precaution.
Another 14 people were evacuated by a coast guard vessel from a beach near the village of Makri.
Several communities in the broader Evros region, near the border with Turkey, have been evacuated as authorities warned the risk of new fires remained high in the coming days.
Harrowing images show the extent of the damage caused by the wildfires, with the charred remains of homes and cars seen in the Evros region.
‘Under extreme weather conditions, mainly due to gale-force winds, a huge effort has been made to manage fire fronts that broke out simultaneously in many parts of the country,’ fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopios said late on Monday.
‘The hours we are going through are extremely critical.’
Over 60 fires had erupted in the last 24 hours, and six countries were sending help via the European Union’s civil protection mechanism, the fire department said.
Some 120 firefighters from Cyprus, Romania, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany and Serbia will pitch in, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told state TV ERT.
Meanwhile, the European Union announced it was deploying two Cyprus-based firefighting aircraft and a Romanian firefighting team via the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.
A new fire broke out Tuesday at a landfill in the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos near Athens, covering the area in a noxious black cloud.
Officials shut down the nearest section of the Athens ring road, and advised residents to stay indoors.
Another fire broke out in the foothills of Mount Parnitha near the capitals, prompting evacuations.
A farmer rushes to evacuate his donkey during a wildfire at the area of Fyli near Athens on Tuesday
A farmer rushes to evacuate his dog during a wildfire at the area of Fyli near Athens on Tuesday
Blazes burn a forest in Distomo, Viotia, central Greece, on Tuesday
Firefighters battle flames of a wildfire at the area of Fyli near Athens on Tuesday
Smoke billows behind the ancient temple of Parthenon on the top of the Acropolis hill as a wildfire rages on the outskirts of Athens on Tuesday
A wildfire burns through vegetation during a wildfire near Prodromos, 100km northwast of Athens, on Monday
Local residents extinguish a fire in Avanta, near Alexandroupoli, northern Greece, on Tuesday as a wildfire incinerated their homes
Firefighters try to extinguish the flames in a forest in Avantas village, near Alexandroupolis town, in the northeastern Evros region, Greece, on Monday
An aerial picture taken with a drone shows the bunrt area after a wildfire, in Avantas village, Alexandroupolis, on Tuesday
A burnt car is seen in the village of Palagia, near the town of Alexandroupolis, on Tuesday
Pictured: Burnt cars in Palagia village, Alexandroupolis, on Tuesday following a wildfire
A burned house and a car are seen in Saranti beach as a result of a wildfire in Prodroomos, northeast of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday
The incinerated remains of a campsite in the village of Sarantini after a wildfire tore through the area on Tuesday
A firefighting plane operates above a wildfire in the area of Fyli near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday
Flames burn a forest during a wildfire in Avantas village, near Alexandroupolis town on Monday
On the island of Evia, near the capital, officials late Monday evacuated the industrial town of Nea Artaki, where the fire has damaged poultry and pork farms.
The burned body of a man believed to be a migrant was found in a rural area in Lefkimi, near Alexandroupolis, on Monday, a local police official said.
Evros is a popular border crossing for hundreds of migrants from the Middle East and Asia who use the river by the same name separating Greece from Turkey to cross into the European Union.
An elderly shepherd had also been found dead in the Boeotia region earlier on Monday.
The flames were also threatening the national park of Dadia, which is one of the most important protected areas in Europe. It offers an ideal habitat for rare birds and is home to the only breeding population of black vultures in the Balkans.
The very hot and dry conditions which increase the fire risk will persist until Friday, according to meteorologists.
Summer wildfires in Greece are common but have been made worse in recent years by unusually hot, dry and windy conditions that scientists have linked to climate change.
More than 20,000 foreign tourists had to be evacuated from the holiday island of Rhodes in July as wildfires burned for a week, destroying hotels and resorts.
The fire had started on July 18 and was fanned by strong winds ravaged almost 17,770 hectares (more than 43,000 acres) in 10 days in the south of Rhodes.
Firefighters in Spain also battled on Tuesday to stabilise a huge wildfire that has devastated forests on the popular tourist destination of Tenerife for six days.
More than 12,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and nearly 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of pine forest and scrubland have been burned. Large parts of Spain were under alert for wildfire risk due to a heatwave that sent temperatures spiking over 38C in many areas.
A man tries to extinguish a burning olive tree in the village of Avantas, near Alexandroupolis town on Tuesday
Burnt trees are seen from above near the hospital in the town of Alexandroupolis, in the northeastern Evros region, Greece, on Tuesday
Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning near the village of Makri on the region of Evros, Greece, on Tuesday
Patients from the General University Hospital of Alexandroupolis are seen inside a ferry after being evacuated, as a wildfire rages in Alexandroupolis on Tuesday
Patients of a chronic diseases management foundation get evacuated as a wildfire burns near Alexandroupolis on Tuesday
A burned camping site in Saranti beach is seen after wildfires ravaged Prodromos, northeast of Athens, on Tuesday
A burned camping site in Saranti beach is seen after wildfires ravaged Prodromos, northeast of Athens, on Tuesday
2: A burned house and a car are seen in Saranti beach following wildfires in Prodromos on Tuesday
A burned camping site in Saranti beach is seen after wildfires ravaged Prodromos, northeast of Athens, on Tuesday
Meanwhile, in Greece’s northern seaside city of Kavala, two firefighters were injured on Monday while trying to contain a blaze threatening homes in the village of Dialekto, the fire brigade said.
Wildfires have ravaged countries across southern Europe this summer, forcing thousands to be evacuated and thousands more to cancel their holidays.
Last week, ferocious wildfires ripped through 300 hectares of land in a nature park surrounding the Mount Teide volcano on the Spanish island of Tenerife.
Another fire last week ravaged ravaged homes and holiday campsites in a British tourist hotspot in France, forcing the evacuation of 3,000 people.
The blazing wildfires ripped through 500 hectares of land and saw thousands of terrified tourists flee for their lives from their holiday homes and campsites in the popular holiday region of Pyrenees-Orientales, southern France.
This photograph taken on Tuesday shows a house burning during a wildfire in Avanta, near Alexandroupoli, northern Greece
Fire burns tree trunks during a wildfire, in Palagia village, Alexandroupolis, on Tuesday
A fire burns a car during a wildfire in Palagia village, Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, on Tuesday
A local resident looks at a wildfire in the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos near Athens on Tuesday
Britons told how panicked families who had quickly packed their belongings and fled campsites in the commune of Saint-Andre in their cars became trapped in traffic jams after they realised they were in fact heading towards the quickly expanding flames of the wildfire.
Zak Dhabalia, 55, a retired British hedge fund manager who lives in the nearby village of Sorede and saw the flames come perilously close to his home, said it was an ‘extraordinary and terrifying experience for us all’.
Dhabalia, who lives with his French wife Sylvie Dhabalia, told MailOnline it was ‘terrifying’ to see how quickly the wildfire spread across the vineyards towards the campsites which were gutted by the flames, adding that he could hear gas canisters exploding at the site.
Elsewhere in Europe, Greece, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia combined lost more than 1,350 square kilometers (520 square miles) to blazes that affected 120,000 people in late July, according to European Union estimates.
Two weeks ago, a series of wildfires ripped through Portugal and neighbouring Spain as temperatures soared to over 44C, forcing the evacuation of thousands of holidaymakers from villages and campsites.
Climate scientists say heat waves are more intense, more frequent and longer because of climate change — and coupled with droughts have made wildfires harder to fight.
They say climate change will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
‘Climate change kills,’ Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said last month during a visit to the Extremadura region, the site of three major blazes. ‘It kills people, it kills our ecosystems and biodiversity.’
Wildfires raging through Europe this summer have so far burned the second-largest area on record, even though the region is only halfway through its typical fire season, according to data from the European Union’s Joint Research Centre.
Southern European countries such as Portugal and Greece experience fires most summers, but hotter temperatures are pushing severe wildfire risk north, with Germany, Slovenia and the Czech Republic among those hit this season.