Fires tore through parched forests and swallowed villages across Greece, bearing down on villages near Mount Olympus in the south a day after the government declared a nationwide state of emergency. At least 51 people were dead and three people were arrested on suspicion of arson.
The worst infernos were concentrated in the mountains of the Peloponnese in southern Greece and on the island of Evia north of Athens.
The flames were within 5km of the archeological site of Mount Olympus, where authorities evacuated several nearby villages and mobilized some 50 soldiers and volunteers to patrol the site to prevent the worst from happening.
Desperate residents in nearby villages appeared on TV to appeal for help.
"We're going to burn alive here," one woman told Greek television from the village of Lambeti.
She said residents were using garden hoses in a desperate attempt to save their homes.
Church bells rang out in the village of Kolyri near Ancient Olympia as panicked residents tried to gather their belongings and flee through the night, said one man who called the TV station.
After first light, firefighting planes began dropping water in the area, and Ancient Olympia mayor Giorgos Aidonis said the ancient site was no longer in imminent peril.
"We are among the lucky," he said. "Ancient Olympia is not in danger at the moment."
But other areas were still being consumed by flames, with much of the Peloponnese ablaze and one front bearing down a mountain slope towards the southern city of Kalamata.
On Saturday, new fronts had emerged as dozens of fresh fires broke out -- including some blamed on arson.
Another blaze broke out in the area of Kalyvia, between Athens and the ancient site of Sounion to the south.
Nearly 1,000 soldiers and military helicopters reinforced firefighters stretched to the limit by the country's worst summer of wildfires.
In the most ravaged area -- a string of mountain villages in southern Greece -- rescue crews picked through a grim aftermath that spoke of last-minute desperation as the fires closed in.
Dozens of charred bodies were found across fields, homes, along roads and in cars, including the remains of a mother hugging her four children.
By sea and by land, authorities evacuated hundreds of people trapped by the flames.
Senior Health Ministry official Panagiotis Efstathiou said on Saturday that the bodies of 49 people who died because of the fires had been taken to hospitals.
There were fears the toll could increase as rescue crews searched recently burned areas.
The fires have been so severe that authorities said that they could not yet give an estimate of how much damage the blazes had caused, nor what expanse of land had been burned.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS