More than a dozen villages were ordered evacuated Thursday on the Greek islands of Crete, Paros and Andros as hundreds of firefighters strove to tame major wildfires that left three people dead a day earlier, as well as new blazes.
Eight evacuation orders were issued for villages in Crete’s Rethymno region, where a new blaze broke out near Asomatos Thursday. Firefighters in the area were already battling a huge fire burning since Wednesday that forced thousands of people to be evacuated, some by sea, and killed two firefighters who became trapped by flames in their vehicle.
Winds of up to 125 kilometers an hour were recorded in the region Thursday.
Another three villages were ordered evacuated on the resort island of Paros, in the Cyclades, while two evacuations were ordered on nearby Andros.
Fires were also burning Thursday afternoon on the southeastern Aegean Sea island of Kalymnos and near the village of Tanagra northwest of Athens.
