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A helicopter drops water over a village about 55 kilometers south of Athens
Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / dpa
The regions in the Mediterranean basin continue to struggle with violent forest fires.
In Greece, 330 firefighters are trying to bring a forest fire near Athens under control, in Portugal around 600 firefighters were on duty and in southern France as many as 900 firefighters are fighting the fires.
Campsites and entire towns are evacuated.
Thousands of people are fleeing the flames.
In the past few weeks, there had been devastating forest fires in Greece, Turkey, Italy and Algeria, among others.
Scientists blame global warming for the severe drought and violent fires.
Thousands are fleeing forest fires in southern France
Thousands of residents and tourists have sheltered themselves from widespread forest fires in southern France.
The fires are not yet under control and around 900 firefighters are working to fight them, said the prefecture in Toulon.
They are supported by ten fire-fighting planes and three helicopters.
Many roads in the hinterland of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez are closed.
Around 5000 hectares of land have already been burned.
Twelve campsites in the region had been evacuated as a precaution, as well as numerous residents.
The prefecture emphasized that no one could yet return to their accommodation.
19 people suffered from smoke inhalation and three others were slightly injured, reported the station "France bleu", referring to a preliminary balance sheet by the prefect.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wanted to visit the affected region on Tuesday.
The fires were preceded by a heat wave and severe drought.
The fires were fanned by a strong wind.
As the local fire department announced, the fire in the region has spread over a distance of 22 kilometers since it broke out.
Miles of fire in the west of Athens
Greek and international firefighters continued to fight an uncontrolled forest and bush fire in the west of the Greek capital, Athens.
On Tuesday morning, the evacuation of several nearby towns was ordered.
According to media reports, it is a kilometer-long fire front near the village of Vilia, which broke out on Monday evening.
The smoke from the fire is so strong that you can see it on satellite images.
According to the fire brigade, there are around 330 emergency services with 115 vehicles on site;
On Tuesday morning, fire extinguishing work from the air could also be started again.
Six helicopters and five planes are in use.
The Greek fire brigade registered a total of 44 new forest fires from Monday to Tuesday morning.
Fire brigade fights against large forest fire in Portuguese Algarve region
In the Portuguese holiday region of the Algarve, the fire brigade is fighting a large forest fire.
According to the disaster control authority, a firefighter was injured on Tuesday while extinguishing the fire near the town of Castro Marim and had to be taken to hospital with burns, and two others suffered smoke inhalation.
Around 600 firefighters were on duty.
The fire broke out early Monday morning and was initially contained before it reignited in the afternoon and spread over an area of around 3,000 hectares.
The fire ate its way towards the coast and the motorway between the east and west of the Algarve was closed.
On Tuesday morning, the forest fire spread in the direction of Tavira.
Italy also affected
While northern Italy is struggling with severe storms, extinguishing work continues in southern Italy to fight the forest and bush fires.
With the exception of one province in the northeast, Sicily in particular had the highest forest fire warning level.
In the south, drought, heat and strong winds keep giving the flames a breeding ground.
Fire-fighting planes are also used in many places on the large islands, in Calabria on the southern tip of the mainland or in Lazio, where Rome is located.
According to information from Monday evening, the civil protection authority has counted more than 1000 requests for fire extinguishing support from the air since mid-June.
kim / dpa / AFP