Two dead, hundreds evacuated as twin fires sweep Greek island of Salamina

ATHENS — Two people died and hundreds were evacuated after two fast-moving wildfires that broke out “almost simultaneously” spread across a popular Greek island near Athens on Sunday afternoon, officials said.The two victims, believed to be a couple, were killed as the blaze swept through Salamina, west of Athens.The bodies of the two killed were recovered in the village of Peristeria, where strong winds fuelled the spreading blaze.About 200 firefighters were deployed to keep the twin fires from converging on the island of Salamina, which was under a high wildfire risk on Sunday.The first blaze was reported at 14:40 local time (11:40 GMT) near the island’s south coast and spread rapidly due to high winds, followed by a separate fire some 20 minutes later in the east. Their cause is not yet known.One of the fires had been brought under control and evacuations completed by Sunday evening, Greek media report, with 500 people having left the island by sea.The first blaze broke out in a forested residential area in Peristeria, a southern city on the island, fire official Vasilios Vathrakoyannis said in a statement.Firefighters attending the blaze found two bodies at the scene, he said. The city’s mayor told Greek media they were believed to have been a couple.Officials continued to battle scattered blazes there late on Sunday, while the second fire which began in the eastern town of Selinia was said to have “no active front”.Two coast guard vessels and a fire department vessel will remain in the area for surveillance and assistance.At least 10 other people suffered burns or showed “symptoms of smoke inhalation”, five of whom had been taken for treatment locally, Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiades said on X.A number of aircraft and 50 fire engines, assisted by water tankers and construction machinery, were deployed to try and tackle the two fires.Salamina Deputy Mayor Thodoris Zannis earlier said this was to keep the fires from burning over a mountain on the island and meeting to form a single blaze.Five patrol boats and several other private vessels were sent to the area for assistance.Salamina sits just west of Athens and has some 37,000 residents, many of them elderly.Firefighters across Europe have been facing a series of wildfires this weekend, including officers in Belgium spending a third day beating back flames in the country’s largest nature reserve, Hautes Fagnes.The wildfire, described as the largest in the country’s recent history, has more than doubled in size in 24 hours.Meanwhile, at least one person died and dozens were injured in a wildfire that tore through Croatia’s coastline overnight on Friday.It was described by Croatia’s fire chief Slavko Tucakovic as “one of the worst” blazes in the country’s history and saw around 1,200 residents and tourists evacuated.The EU’s climate monitoring service, Copernicus, has confirmed that western Europe experienced its hottest June-to-July period on record.