Authorities in Greece reported that a group of 25 migrants was rescued by Greek firefighters on Friday from a forest in northeastern Greece.
The migrants had become trapped as a massive wildfire, which had been burning for two weeks, approached the area. No injuries were reported, and the nationalities of the migrants were not immediately known. The wildfire, which has already claimed the lives of 20 people believed to be migrants, is the largest single wildfire in a European Union country since 2000. It has burned homes and vast areas of forest, covering over 81,000 hectares. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in northeastern Greece due to the fire. Greece has experienced numerous wildfires this summer, with the majority rapidly extinguished before spreading.
However, the Evros wildfire has been particularly difficult to control. Another persistent blaze has been ongoing for over a week in a national park near Athens. Greece has called on other European countries for assistance, and has received support from France, Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Albania, Serbia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. While arson is suspected in some smaller fires, the causes of the major blazes are still under investigation.
