One person died during a wildfire raging at Stamata, a northern suburb of Athens, on Sunday, Greek authorities said.
The blaze at Stamata was one of the three big wildfires which broke out within a few hours on Sunday near the Greek capital.
The victim was a 45-year-old man, who suffered a heart attack as flames reached his home.
He was transferred to a local healthcare centre but lost the battle.
Meanwhile, more than 100 firefighters assisted by 18 water-dropping aircraft and helicopters battled the front, which extended to about 1.5 kilometres, authorities said.
They warned residents of nearby areas to be on alert and diverted traffic.
Four settlements and a summer camp for children were evacuated, as strong winds hampered firefighting efforts.
“We ask our fellow citizens to follow closely the instructions,” Nikos Hardalias, Governor of Attica Region, told media.
A still unclear number of houses and cars has been burnt during the blaze raging in Lavreotiki municipality in the southeastern Attica region, according to local authorities.
Police helped move to safety 52 people, as six settlements were evacuated here.
Authorities dispatched more than 140 firefighters to the area with 17 water-dropping aircraft and helicopters, the fire brigade said.
Strong winds up to nine on the Beaufort scale are blowing in the area. This made the efforts more difficult to extinguish the blaze.
Firefighters tried to contain the flames before they reached the nearby Sounion National Park.
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The Park was affected by major wildfires in 2012 and 2021. Currently, efforts to regenerate it are underway.
The smoke from the fires in Attica reached Crete Island, about 200 kilometres to the south, Kostas Lagouvardos.
Research Director at the Institute for Environmental Research of the National Observatory of Athens, posted images of the wildfire on social media, citing satellite images.
Another major wildfire is raging at Ritsona. Ritsona is a mixed residential and industrial zone, of the Evia region, about 70 kilometres northwest of Athens.
Dozens of firefighters battled flames as authorities warned of the increased risk due to the inflammable materials inside factories near the blaze.
Authorities issued an alert for residents of settlements and a refugee camp nearby.
On Saturday 54 wildfires broke out nationwide, according to the fire brigade.
Since the start of the wildfire season on May 1, residents call firefighters to handle dozens of wildfires every day across the country.
Greece suffers from many wildfires every summer due to high temperatures, heatwaves linked to climate change and arsonists.
Due to unusually high temperatures in spring and June, authorities said the risk will be high this summer.
“The difficult days are still ahead of us,” Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, posted on social media on Sunday.
Wildfire prevention and the operation of the mechanism to address them will be the subject of discussion on the agenda of Monday’s cabinet meeting. (Xinhua)
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