No end to Greek inferno as wildfires continue to rage

Men give water to a dog as fire spreads in Afidnes. Pic/AFP

A 38-year-old man, assisting in dousing a raging wildfire in the north of Athens, has died, while over 40 others have been injured as devastating fires have continued to spread across Greece.

The man was transferred to a hospital with serious head injuries on Friday after being hit by a falling electricity pole, it was reported. At least 44 people were transferred to hospitals due to injuries sustained in the fires in Attica, Peloponnese and Evia, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Friday.

Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias said earlier in an emergency briefing that there were 56 active fire fronts in different parts of the country, stressing that the conditions were "extremely dangerous". Fires continued to rage across the country in northern Athens, on Evia island, in Ilia prefecture and Mani in Peloponnese, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate, destroying houses, businesses and burning thousands of hectares of forest land.

3 arrested for suspected arson

Greek authorities said that the Fire Brigade has activated teams of arson investigators and so far three people have been arrested over the fires in the country.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever