Salamina Fires: Two Dead and Hundreds Evacuated as Twin Blazes Hit Greek Island

What is happening on Salamina

The first blaze was reported at 14:40 local time in Peristeria, a mixed residential and forested area on the south coast, and spread rapidly in high winds. A second broke out 20 minutes later in the eastern town of Selinia, fire official Vasilios Vathrakoyannis said. Firefighters attending the first fire found two bodies at the scene, BBC News reported. At least 10 people have suffered burns or smoke inhalation, Greek health minister Adonis Georgiades said; the Mirror reported they were aged 15 to 89. The cause is not yet known.

The situation is difficult. There are two major fires, homes are under threat, and we have asked the police to bring us two ferry boats to Saterli Beach.

Giorgos Panagopoulos, mayor of Salamina

Panagopoulos told Greek broadcaster ERT that “houses have burned down” in Peristeria, while the Selinia front headed towards the tourist village of Kaki Vigla — the latest Mediterranean holiday spot under threat, after Foreign Office warnings over a holiday spots affected by wildfires in Spain and France. Fifty fire engines, aircraft and five patrol boats have been deployed. Salamina has some 37,000 residents, many of them elderly.

Deputy mayor Thodoris Zannis said crews were fighting to stop the fires meeting over a mountain to form a single blaze. It has been a punishing weekend across Europe: Belgian crews spent a third day on a blaze in the Hautes Fagnes reserve, the largest in the country’s recent history, weeks after Spain declared a national state of emergency as thousands fled.