Authorities sent out alert text messages on Monday to residents in the coastal town of Xylokastro and surrounding settlements in Corinth prefecture, along the northern coast of the Peloponnese and some 120 km west of Athens, after a wildfire burning since Sunday morning flared up again due to strong winds.
The blaze’s front extends over 30 kilometers and is burning dense forest, while a thick cloud of smoke stretched from the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. The smoke was visible even in the capital.
Two men died in the conflagration, while according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the burned areas in the region currently extend to 4,200 hectares.
The victims, aged 35 and 40, lost their lives when they were engulfed by flames on a roadway. They had headed towards the inferno atop motorcycles in an effort to reach a friend’s sheep pen to help him try and save his livestock.
The men had been missing since Sunday and were later found burned to death.
Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blaze with the support of numerous fire engines, aircraft, and helicopters.
