RAGING INFERNO
Greece fires – Apocalyptic wildfires see flames fill the sky as people flee while Turkey burns for a second week
WILDFIRES are continuing to rage in Greece with apocalyptic flames filling the sky as people flee for safety.
In neighbouring Turkey, fires that have ravaged the country and killed eight have now entered a second week.
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Hundreds of Greek firefighters fought desperately Sunday to control wildfires on the island of Evia that have charred vast areas of pine forest, destroyed homes and forced tourists and locals to flee.
Thousands were evacuated by ferries, with video taken from on board showing a wall of flames in the night sky.
"We're talking about the apocalypse, I don't know how to describe it," Sotiris Danikas, head of the coastguard in the town of Aidipsos on Evia, told state broadcaster ERT.
In all, 17 firefighting aircraft - planes and helicopters - were fighting the fires on Evia, which have killed a firefighter and have been have been raging for days as temperatures reached 45C.
"I feel angry. I lost my home - nothing will be the same," one resident, Vasilikia, said she boarded a rescue ferry on Sunday.
"It's a disaster. It's huge. Our villages are destroyed, there is nothing left from our homes.”
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Villager Yannis Selimis from Gouves on the north of the island said: "We are in the hands of God."
The authorities are once again bracing themselves for another night battling the inferno.
"We have ahead of us another difficult evening, another difficult night," Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias said.
"On Evia we have two major fire fronts, one in the north and one in the south. The one in the north is driven by blasts of wind to the beach settlement.”
British firefighters are expected to land in Greece on Sunday to help battle deadly wildfires ravaging parts of the country.
The 21-strong team was put together within 24 hours of the initial request by Home Secretary Priti Patel, who visited Greece this week.
Meanwhile in Turkey, rain has brought respite to areas that have been devastated by 12 days of fires.
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But it was later reported that fires had once again broke out in the Dalaman district of Mugala province.
The situation remained serious however around the tourist hotspot of Mugla, where at least three neighbourhoods have been ordered to evacuate.
There have been over 200 fires in 47 of Turkey's 81 provinces, Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli tweeted Saturday and 13 of those fires in five provinces were still burning.
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