Concerns have been raised that airports could be closed by flames and smoke with thousands set to fly out on holiday
Jet2 has issued an update for holidaymakers amid concerns that a major airport might be forced to close due to towering wildfires, with flames reaching up to 25m high. The inferno, which broke out on Monday in the northern outskirts of Athens, has already claimed one life and led to the evacuation of hundreds.
The fire began near Lake Marathon, roughly 35 kilometres northeast of Athens, before spreading across Mount Pendeli and into the city's northern suburbs, destroying homes and businesses both in the suburbs and near the lake, reports the Liverpool Echo. Colonel Vassileios Vathrakogiannis, speaking for the Fire Department, described how firefighters are contending not with a single front, but "many active localised blazes", mainly around Marathon and Pendeli. Despite Marathon's historical significance as the site of an ancient battle and its museum and archaeological treasures, there have been no reports so far of any damage to such sites due to the fire.
Spain is also arranging support to send to the struggling Greek nation. The wildfire has been ravaging through pine forests left parched by the heatwaves that have struck repeatedly this summer. Climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias described the situation on Monday morning as battling "an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours under dramatic circumstances". The fire was raging across two fronts, with parts in hard-to-reach mountainous areas northeast of Athens, he explained.
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