ATHENS, Aug 16 (Reuters) – An elderly couple died and several other people were injured on Sunday as fast-moving wildfires swept through the Greek island of Salamina west of Athens on the biggest holiday weekend of the summer, authorities said.
Across Europe, successive heatwaves have intensified drought, strained water supplies and left vegetation tinder-dry, helping wildfires in Spain, France and Greece scorch near unprecedented areas of land.
Greece’s coast guard said more than 500 people had been evacuated and an elderly couple died outside their home near the area where the fire started. Strong winds that had fanned fires across Greece subsided in the afternoon.
The blaze took hold during Greece’s peak summer getaway weekend around the August 15 Assumption holiday, when many Athenians head to nearby islands such as Salamina which is easily accessible from the capital’s main port of Piraeus.
Houses have been damaged, while five people have been taken to a local health clinic, according to local reports.
About 192 firefighters, 14 aircraft and helicopters, volunteer crews and municipal water tankers were deployed to contain the blazes.
Coast guard and firefighting vessels were sent to the island, with preparations made for possible sea evacuations from threatened coastal areas.
Salamina was under a high wildfire risk warning on Sunday. The cause of the fires was not immediately known.
The fires come days after tourists and residents fled villages in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece as a wildfire fanned by strong winds engulfed houses and trees near a resort.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Christina Fincher and Alexander Smith)
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