An elderly couple died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis on Sunday and Belgium is battling its largest modern-day wildfire at an inaccessible area near Germany, in the latest wave of European wildfires,
The Guardian reports.
The couple died outside their home in the Peristeria beach area of Salamis, Greece’s coastguard said. More than 500 people were ordered to evacuate.
In Spain, a soldier died on Sunday while helping efforts to extinguish a large wildfire in Aragon, authorities said. French reinforcements were due to help contain the wildfire in the north-eastern region, which has raged for a week and threatened a 1,000-year-old monastery.
In Belgium, a wildfire that broke out on Friday in the High Fens, a large nature reserve popular with hikers, had ravaged about 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of land and was encroaching on the border with Germany by early Sunday morning.
About 600 people in the municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liège province, were told on Saturday to evacuate from their homes, and tourists were also advised to leave, as winds shifted and smoke spread.
Of those who followed the order, about 20 spent the night in a sports hall, while others sought refuge with family and friends.
Hervé Jamar, the governor of Liège, said more than 250 firefighters and emergency staff were involved in the operation, including firefighters from Germany.
