Mega-fire around Athens, thousands of people fleeing

A large fire spreads near Athens, Greece.Two hospitals evacuated and a stadium opened to welcome the inhabitants.

In the early morning of Monday 12 August the civil protection from the Greece he arranged the evacuation of some suburbs of the capital Athens, particularly in the area north-east of the city.What imposes the extraordinary measure is the expansion of a new violent fire, which broke out on Sunday.

A text message alerted the population at dawn, inviting them to evacuate

The population was warned at dawn by a message sent on the mobile phones:“A fire is approaching you.Follow the authorities' instructions."The text message also specified some indications on the direction which must be taken during theevacuation.

Among them suburbs from which the inhabitants are forced to flee is there that of Marathon, a historic town located a few dozen kilometers from Athens.Likewise, at least five other locations are subject to evacuations, as well as two hospitals, one pediatric and the other military, which are located approximately 15 kilometers from the capital.

Consequently, for the authorities, the problem related to the reception of thousands of people (only a Marathon seven thousand people live).In Athens it was decided to open the gates of the Oaka Olympic Stadium, in which part of the evacuees can be temporarily collected.But the risk is that it may take time to put out the fire:“All civil protection forces were mobilized during the night but, despite superhuman efforts, the fire continues to spread very quickly.At the moment it is moving towards Penteli”, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis explained to the press, spokesperson for the Greek Fire Brigade.

Impressive means mobilized around Athens.But heat, wind and dry soil fuel the flames

An alarming situation, which therefore shows no signs of improving despite the fact that they were sent to the scene 510 men, 152 vehicles and 29 planes.In fact, the flames spread easily due to the temperatures extraordinarily high, gods winds particularly sustained and arid soil due to the drought.“Unfortunately the gusts will still be high in the next few hours, so it is absolutely necessary for citizens to follow our instructions,” specified Vathrakogiannis.

A point of view shared by Kostas Lagouvardos, of the Athens Observatory, who speaking to Greek television on Sunday explained that the response must be rapid, otherwise the fire - taking into account the meteorological conditions - risks becoming uncontrollable.