Greece battled raging forest fires for a fourth day yesterday and charged seven people with arson over blazes that have claimed more than 60 lives and threatened some of Europe's most historic sites.
The country was on a disaster footing as more than 30 fires devastated forests in the south and west of the Peloponnese, the peninsula to the south of Athens which has been hit the hardest.
Flames shot into the sky in the western Peloponnese as helicopters and planes dropped thousands of liters of water on the blazing trees.
PHOTO: AP
In areas already ravaged by the fires, a thick carpet of ash lay among blackened trees stripped bare by the flames.
Firefighters were surrounding the site of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, after succeeding on Sunday in preventing the flames from devastating one of Greece's most historic treasures.
Authorities feared that strong winds would force the flames back toward the site.
Fires also broke out near Athens yesterday, forcing residents to flee their homes but the blaze on a mountain north of the capital was soon brought under control.
A spokesman for firefighters said seven people had been charged with starting fires and anti-terrorist prosecutor Dimitris Papagelopoulos said he was opening a preliminary investigation into the cause.
Both announcements fueled mounting speculation that the fires were started by criminal gangs.
"The fact that so many fires have broken out in so many areas at once is perhaps not a coincidence," Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said at the weekend.
Greece goes to the polls for a general election in just three weeks' time that Karamanlis is favored to win.
Construction is one of Greece's main industries, and some observers believe that developers are hoping to move in on the areas where forest has been destroyed.
The government has insisted however that trees will be re-planted, partly to prevent illegal construction.
Papangelopoulos yesterday ordered an investigation to determine "whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests carried out in the country during the summer of 2007" could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law, the public order ministry said in a statement.
The investigation will also seek to establish the identities of those responsible, the statement said.
Treating arson as a potential act of terrorism would give authorities broader powers of investigation and arrest.
The ministry has announced rewards of between 100,000 euros (US$136,000) and 1 million euros for information leading to the arrest of arsonists.
At least 63 people have died, including 59 in the Peloponnese alone, in what authorities have called "a national catastrophe without precedent."
"The death toll so far is 63 after two bodies were found in the village of Agnanta in the Peloponnese," health ministry official Panios Efstathiou said.
More than 800 Greek firefighters and 800 soldiers were battling the flames in the Peloponnese, assisted by a growing international effort, with 20 planes and 19 helicopters dropping water on the flames.
France sent four water-bombing Canadair planes and two came from Italy.
A team of French firefighters arrived to fight a raging blaze in the southeast of the Peloponnese.
"We have a big job ahead of us. The fire has already burned 20,000 hectares," said Captain Philippe Risser, who was leading the 62-man team.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS