Faced with fires ravaging the suburbs of Athens, many Greeks are forced to evacuate

Since Sunday, the fire has been approaching homes in part of the Greek capital. The population is being asked to evacuate and Greece has asked for help from other European countries.

An out-of-control fire in Greece is now reaching some residential areas on the outskirts of Athens, in the north-eastern part of the city. The fire started on Sunday 11 August near the village of Varnava, then split into several fronts before gradually reaching the outskirts of the country’s most populous city. On the ground, evacuation messages from the authorities are multiplying and, faced with the threat of the flames, Athens has asked for help from the European Union.

As evacuation messages mount in northeastern Athens, Greek authorities have opened the OAKA Olympic stadium in the north of the capital to accommodate some of the displaced. Many are heading to their families instead, but others have no other option, like Fotini, whose father is Greek and mother is Serbian. “There were times when I was afraid, she admits to the microphone of franceinfo. When I saw the very thick smoke coming, I was afraid that the whole forest in front of our house would start burning and that our house would burn too. But now that I am here, safe, I can relax again.”

For Sofia Zacharaki, the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs, who was visiting the area, the general context remains particularly worrying: “We are facing a very difficult situation. Some fires are starting up again even though, in theory, they are supposed to have been put out.” She recalls that “There are many fronts” and regrets not being helped by “the weather conditions, especially due to the very strong wind”.

“The situation is difficult and we are all trying to help as best we can.”

Sofia Zacharaki, Greek Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs

franceinfo

In the municipality of Penteli, Agapios Pantelidakis loads three cats and their litter boxes into the trunk of his car. He is evacuating with the rest of his family.“When I see the situation we are facing, I have a feeling of panic.he confides. Not only for me, but for my child, my wife, my mother who is in a wheelchair and then my animals too.” The man, however, remains hopeful: “I tell myself that at some point, the firefighters, helped by the various aerial resources, will manage to stabilise the situation, but as a resident, when I see the wind blowing so hard, it scares me.”

The heat records reached in June and July in Greece have contributed to a climate of drought. And the wind that has been blowing across the country since Sunday, August 11, is only fanning the flames and the fear of a disastrous toll.