"Extremely difficult"

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According to the fire department, 45 new forest fires were reported in Greece on Friday.

(Bild: AFP/AFP (Archivbild))

More than 45 forest fires were reported in Greece on Friday. At least one person was killed. A 55-year-old man from Myrtia on the Peloponnese peninsula was taken unconscious to the hospital in Pyrgos on Friday, where he died shortly afterwards.

A fire department spokeswoman said that the exact cause of the man's death was still unclear. According to eyewitnesses, he collapsed during fire-fighting operations.

Strong winds, villages evacuated
The weather conditions "are extremely difficult, with wind speeds exceeding 95 km/h in some regions on Friday", making the work of fire-fighting aircraft pilots more difficult, a spokesman said. For the third day in a row with strong winds, some villages, especially on the Peloponnese peninsula in the south of the country, were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Fire near power plant
At least four major fires broke out in the Peloponnese near the city of Megalopoli in the regional district of Arcadia and in the regional districts of Argolida, Messinia and Achaia. Near Megalopoli, a fire broke out close to a power plant belonging to the Greek electricity company DEI. According to the Greek news agency Ana, more than 40 firefighters with twelve fire engines, six firefighting aircraft and two helicopters are battling the flames.

Earliest heatwave since weather records began
Last week, Greece reported the earliest heatwave since weather records began. Last summer, the country suffered from an extremely long heatwave, which led to numerous forest fires.

In total, almost 175,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land went up in flames. According to researchers, forest fires are becoming more frequent and more severe due to man-made global warming.