STORY: :: June 21, 2024
:: Firefighters battle forest fires fanned by gale-force winds on Greece's southern tip
:: Latas, Greece
:: Kalfas, Greece
:: Theodoros Baris, Local mayor
"The weather conditions were very difficult. We had really strong winds, we had a fast spread and it was very difficult to deal with them."
:: At least one person was killed, and evacuations were ordered in several towns
"Houses, stables and livestock have burned. We are not even talking about agricultural production, you understand. The damages are too great."
The 55-year-old man was injured in a blaze in the region of Ilia on the Peloponnese peninsula and died at a hospital, said a fire service official.
Some 120 firefighters, assisted by dozens of engines, were deployed to tame forest fires in Achaia region, which spread fast to the nearby district of Ilia and raged uncontrolled.
Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean country, but they have become more devastating as summers have become hotter, drier and windier, which scientists relate to climate change.
