A gigantic forest fire has swept through Greece, scorching an area larger than the historic metropolis of New York in a tragic natural calamity that has shocked the world. The unfolding disaster has brought the country to its breaking point, attracting international attention and prompting urgent calls for action.
The forest fire burning in northern Greece for 11 days has devastated an area larger than New York City, according to the European Union-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service, as firefighters from five countries battled the flames.
The fire originated near Alexandroupolis and spread rapidly through the Evros area, killing at least 20 people last week in Europe’s deadliest conflagration this summer, fueled by gale-force winds and intense heat.
It burned the lush flora and devastated homes and livelihoods.
The catastrophic fire in Greece: a region bigger than New York City in ruins
Credit: Reuters
According to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, the fire devastated at least 808.7 square kilometers (312.2 square miles). New York City covers an area of 778.2 square kilometers (300.5 square miles).
Last week, Copernicus reported that the fire was the biggest on European soil in years, and authorities warned that it was still dangerous.
According to firefighters, planes and hundreds of firefighters on the ground from Albania, Serbia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were battling the flames.
“We are trying to defend the rest of the unaffected area before the first line of fire arrives,” said Jiri Nemcik, commander of the Czech force. “Because the fire is developing rapidly, it is extremely dangerous.”
Satellite photographs show the extent of the devastation in the area, where once-luxurious pine trees have been reduced to charred skeletal bark. According to Panagiota Maragou, conservation officer for the Greece section of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), at least 30% of the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest National Park has been lost.
The national park is “one of the most important protected areas in Greece and also in Europe, perhaps also on an international scale,” he said, due to its rich biodiversity.
According to a statement from his office, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday chaired a meeting on the flames that ravaged Greece, which discussed, among other things, preventive measures.
Environmentalists have long accused Greece of prioritizing fire suppression over prevention. “We have seen in the case of Dadia, and in the case of the Evros fire in general… one of the biggest fires in Europe, that a system that relies solely on fire suppression is not working,” Maragou said.
Credit: AFP
Summer forest fires are expected in Greece, but the government says exceptional weather conditions related to climate change have exacerbated them this year. In 2018, the deadliest fire in Greek history killed 104 people on the outskirts of Athens.
All but one of those who died in the Evros fire are suspected to have been illegal immigrants who crossed from Turkey while fleeing authorities in the forest.
Authorities are concerned that more bodies will be discovered once the fire is out. Evros is an important step towards the EU for thousands of immigrants and refugees every year.
According to Greece’s Racist Violence Registration Network, the flames have fueled anti-immigrant sentiment in the region.
Credit: AP
Last week, three people were arrested after a video on social media showed immigrants in a trailer being pulled by a jeep, and a man was heard urging citizens to “round up” immigrants he accused of starting the fires.
According to an official with the Ministry of Citizen Protection, a prosecutor launched a preliminary investigation into a separate incident on Tuesday after another video posted on social media showed four men, believed to be immigrants, sitting on a dirt road next to a jeep. , and a local man filming them.
As for the official, the individual who appeared at the Alexandroupolis police station was wanted for his alleged involvement in the “forced immobilization” of immigrants.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn