Greek gov't announces aid measures for victims of wildfires
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, July 22, 2022
ATHENS, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government announced on Thursday new support measures for fire-stricken areas, as firefighters were battling on to control resurgences.
Approximately 2,000 hectares of forestland were destroyed in a blaze that started on Tuesday and firefighters were not able to extinguish until Wednesday in the northeastern suburbs of Athens, according to estimates by the National Observatory of Athens.
An elderly man lost his life and at least 34 people were injured as a yet unconfirmed number of houses caught fire, forcing thousands to evacuate, according to authorities.
The island of Salamina near the port of Piraeus and settlements at the outskirts of Megara town in the western Attica region were also hit by fires on Wednesday, albeit to a smaller extent.
On Thursday, a firefighter was injured during efforts to extinguish a wildfire that broke out near a town in western Greece, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
Meanwhile, the government announced that fire-afflicted residents will receive compensation for real estate damages, as well as rent subsidies and tax reliefs, according to an e-mailed press release.
"We have a picture of the extent of the damage. The number of damaged houses is rather small, even though the flames entered the urban fabric," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday while touring the affected areas in wider Athens, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.
When asked whether the fires should be treated as arson, he did not exclude the possibility. " The site and the time the fire started raises reasonable questions," he said.
Meanwhile, an official inquiry has been launched into the circumstances of the wildfires in Athens and Megara, according to AMNA.
In any case, the government is preparing to face more challenges during the coming weeks, the prime minister said, adding that so far in July the fire services have dealt with 50-60 fires a day on average.
Greece suffers from wildfires each summer linked to heatwaves or arsons. Last summer a series of fires scorched over 100,000 hectares of forest and farmland and damaged some 2,000 houses in several parts of the country.
In 2018, 102 people died in the coastal resort of Mati, near Athens, in Greece's worst-ever wildfire. Enditem
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)