(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, AUG 2 - Firefighters were battling two
large wildfires in Greece on Monday, one in the Peloponnese and
the other on the island of Rhodes, with temperatures due to hit
a punishing 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). A heatwave
across Southern Europe also fed destructive fires in Turkey,
Spain and Italy during the weekend, with experts warning climate
change was increasing both the frequency and intensity of such
blazes. More than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of pine and olive
groves have been torched by a fire that broke out on Saturday in
Greece's Achaia, near Patras in the Peloponnese, according to
the National Observatory of Athens citing EU satellite images.
Officials have evacuated five villages and a seaside town, and
eight people have been hospitalised with burns and respiratory
problems. The fire was not fully under control on Monday
morning, the country's weather service told the ANA news agency.
(ANSA-AFP).
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