At least 50 are dead after twin forest fires have ripped through seaside Greece.
More than 100 have been injured, and the Spanish government has sent two amphibious planes to help battle the blazes, according to the Associated Press. An earlier report said 150 had been hospitalized.
As fires raged on either side of Athens, cars and farms and forests were torched, with hundreds racing toward beaches to be rescued by boat.
Greece’s interior minister, Panos Skourletis, told Sky News the fires are a “national tragedy” and a “biblical disaster with human losses.”
More than 700 people were rescued by the Coast Guard, Sky News reported.
Turkey has joined Spain in offering to provide aid, including airplanes and helicopters, to Greece.
Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias thanked him for the offer but that the assistance wasn’t yet required, the AP reported. Bekir Pakdemirli, Turkey’s agriculture and forestry minister, in Ankara said firefighting planes are “45 minutes away if there is a request and we are ready to intervene immediately.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
