Firefighters were battling two large wildfires in Greece on Monday, as the prime minister said the country was suffering its worst heatwave in more than three decades. Fires have also raged across Turkey, Spain and Italy over the weekend with experts warning climate change was increasing both the frequency and intensity of such blazes. More […]
Fire
Turkey wildfires force more residents to flee homes
Wildfires in southern Turkey forced more people to flee their homes on Sunday as pressure on the government grew over its response to the deadly forest fires. Turkey has suffered the worst fires in at least a decade, official data show, with nearly 95,000 hectares (235,000 acres) burned so far this year, compared with an […]
Dozen homes destroyed, five hospitalised in Greece forest fire
Around a dozen homes were destroyed and five people were hospitalised with breathing problems Saturday in a forest fire near Patras, Greece’s third largest city, authorities said. Some 145 firefighters, 50 trucks, eight firefighting planes and helicopters have been mobilised to extinguish the fire in the Zeria region in the Peloponnese, about 210 kilometres (130 […]
Dozens hurt in Turkish forest fire near resort
Dozens of people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and several for burns as a forest fire ravaged several communities near a Mediterranean tourist resort in the south of Turkey on Wednesday, media reported. Footage on social media and Turkish TV showed rescuers dumping fire retardant from helicopters on burning buildings and fields in […]
Major US wildfire grows, forcing new evacuations
With oppressively hot, dry weather looming over much of the Western US and Canada on Sunday, the enormous Bootleg Fire in Oregon grew again and authorities ordered new evacuations. Bootleg, the largest of 80 major fires now active in the US, spread overnight from 274,000 acres to 290,000 acres — three times the size of […]
Three migrants die in fire in France’s Marseille
Three men died in the French southern city of Marseille on Saturday when a fire broke out in a public housing building where they were squatting, officials said. A two-year-old and an adult were also seriously wounded in the fire at the building, where migrants from Nigeria are known to squat, a judicial source said, […]
Populist Iraq cleric demands action over deadly Covid unit fire
Populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has warned he will hold the Iraqi government responsible if it fails to action over a devastating fire that killed at least 60 people in a Covid isolation unit. The warning comes just months before Iraq is scheduled to go to the polls in October for an early parliamentary election […]
Bangladesh factory owner held after fire kills 52
The owner of a factory where 52 people died in a fire was arrested for murder Saturday along with seven others, as it emerged that children as young as 11 had been working there. Police said Abul Hashem and four of his sons were among eight people detained over the inferno, which broke out Thursday […]
Cyprus worst forest fire in decades kills four
Cyprus said a deadly forest fire that was the worst to hit the island in decades was close to being brought under control Sunday after water bombing by Greek and Israeli aircraft. Fanned by strong winds, the fire broke out Saturday afternoon and swept through the southern foothills of the Troodos mountain range as the […]
Military put on standby to evacuate fire-threatened towns in western Canada
Ottawa prepared Friday to send military aircraft and other help to evacuate towns and fight more than 100 wildfires in western Canada fueled by a record-smashing heat wave. According to wildfire officials, at least 152 fires were active in British Columbia, 89 of them sparked in the last two days. Most were caused by lightning […]