Around 8,000 people have been evacuated on the Greek island of Crete as wildfires fanned by strong winds menace tourist resorts and villages. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
The blaze in Rethymno broke out on Wednesday, with gusts reaching 125 km/h. Evacuations took place overnight. The fire front exceeds 15 km and is burning out of control. Rethymno's deputy regional governor Maria Lioni described Wednesday as a "dark day".
Two firefighters died on Wednesday after getting trapped near Krya Vrysi: 58-year-old Emmanouil Stratidakis and 25-year-old Pantelis Diamantakis. A third firefighter died near the Peloponnese port town of Gytheio.
In Spain, around 600 people were evacuated in Zamora due to a fire. Five people were injured in Valpaços, Portugal. A fire in Ávila province has burned more than 43,000 hectares, becoming the largest recorded wildfire in Spanish history.
In Turkey, hundreds of homes were evacuated but most fires are under control. In France's Gironde region, a wildfire has not spread for three days, with cooler weather expected. That fire ravaged some 42,000 hectares, the largest in France since 1949.
Climate change is driving up temperatures, with Europe warming twice as fast as the global average, increasing wildfire risks.