Thousands more evacuated as Greece 'at war' with fires
Authorities evacuated nearly 2,500 people from the Greek island of Corfu on Monday as the prime minister warned that the heat-battered nation was "at war" with several wildfires and spoke of three difficult days ahead. Tens of thousands of people have already fled blazes on the island of Rhodes, with many frightened tourists scrambling to get home on evacuation flights. About 2,400 visitors and locals were evacuated from the Ionian tourist island of Corfu from Sunday into Monday, a fire service spokesman said, adding that the departures were a precaution. Fires were also burning on Greece's second largest island of Evia on Monday. "We are at war and are exclusively geared towards the fire front," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament, warning that the nation faced "another three difficult days ahead" before high temperatures are forecast to ease. Vassilis Kikilias, Greece's civil protection minister, said crews had battled over 500 fires around the country for 12 straight days. Greece has been sweltering under a lengthy spell of extreme heat that has exacerbated wildfire risk and left visitors stranded in peak tourist season. The government's speedy evacuation came after a tragedy in 2018 when over 100 people perished in Greece's deadliest forest fire at Mati, near Athens, which Mitsotakis on Monday said still "haunts us all." (AFP)