Solidarity To Greece !

[Marseliatsi_M26]

Greek fires reach ancient Olympics site By PETROS GIANNAKOURIS,

Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 43 minutes ago

 

 

 

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece - Massive fires consuming large areas of

southern Greece for a third day raced toward the site of the ancient

Olympics on Sunday, engulfing villages and forests as the flames

reached one of the most revered sites of antiquity.

 

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At least 57 people have been killed in the country's worst wildfires

in decades, including five who died Sunday in a new blaze on the

island of Evia and a woman whose body was found in a village near

Ancient Olympia. There were fears the death toll could rise as new

fires broke out and strong winds pushed flames through villages and

hamlets.

 

"It's hell everywhere," said Costas Ladas, who said the fire covered

more than a mile in three minutes. "I've never seen anything like

it."

 

By sea and by land, authorities evacuated hundreds of people trapped

by flames in villages, hotels and resorts.

 

A large front of fire was just at the edge of the village of Ancient

Olympia, which stands near the 2,800-year-old site itself. Police

blocked roads, and firefighting planes flew overhead.

 

"The winds are so strong that I don't know whether the site's

sprinkling system will stop it," said Costas Sofianos, deputy mayor

of Ancient Olympia. Although the sprinkler system was activated, not

all of it appeared to be functioning.

 

The fire department said some trees at the sprawling site had

burned, but that the museum was safe. The ancient stadium and other

monuments were so far unaffected.

 

In the early morning, church bells rang out in nearby Kolyri as

residents gathered their belongings and fled through the night.

Villagers returned to find at least seven gutted houses.

 

Fotis Hadzopoulos, a resident, said the evacuation was

chaotic. "Children were crying, and their mothers were trying to

comfort them, " he said.

 

The worst of Greece's fires — 42 major fronts — were concentrated in

the mountains of the Peloponnese in southern Greece and on Evia

north of Athens. New fires also broke out Sunday in the central

region of Fthiotida — one of the few areas that had been unscathed,

fire department spokesman Nikos Diamandis said.

 

Arson has been blamed in several cases, and seven people have been

detained.

 

Although a temporary drop in the ferocity of high winds early in the

morning provided brief respite in Ancient Olympia, they intensified

later in the day.

 

"Unfortunately the improvement that we were looking for is not

there," Diamandis said. "Our target is for the fire not to enter

Ancient Olympia, not to destroy antiquities."

 

The Culture Ministry said "all means are being used, and all

necessary measures have been taken" to save the site, and that the

army had been called in to create a fire break.

 

The fire blazed into the nearby village of Varvasaina, destroying

several houses. As residents rushed to battle the flames, others,

stunned, walked the streets holding their heads in their hands.

 

Across the country, churchgoers prayed for the blazes to abate.

 

"Fires are burning in more than half the country," Diamandis

said. "This is definitely an unprecedented disaster for Greece."

 

Elsewhere, flames were less than two miles from the Temple of Apollo

Epikourios, a 2,500-year-old monument near the town of Andritsaina

in the southwestern Peloponnese, said the town's mayor, Tryphon

Athanassopoulos.

 

"We are trying to save the Temple of Apollo, as well as Andritsaina

itself," he told Greek television.

 

A separate blaze had abated Sunday in Kalyvia, an area between

Athens and the ancient site of Sounion to the south.

 

Nearly 1,000 soldiers, backed by military helicopters, reinforced

firefighters stretched to the limit.

 

In the ravaged mountain villages in the Peloponnese, rescue crews on

Saturday picked through a grim aftermath that spoke of last-minute

desperation as the fires closed in.

 

Dozens of charred bodies have been found across fields, homes, along

roads and in cars, including the remains of a mother hugging her

four children.

 

At least 12 countries were sending reinforcements, and six water-

dropping planes from France and Italy joined operations Sunday.

 

The worst-affected region was around the town of Zaharo, south of

Ancient Olympia. Thick smoke, which blocked out the summer sun,

could be seen more than 60 miles away. The blaze broke out Friday

and quickly engulfed villages, trapping dozens of people and killing

at least 37. Scores of people were treated in hospitals for burns

and breathing problems.

 

The government, which has declared a nationwide state of emergency,

announced Sunday it would offer up to $13,000 to people who lost

relatives or property.

 

____

 

Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros and Nicholas Paphitis in

Athens and John F.L. Ross in Varvasaina contributed to this report.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070826/ap_on_re_eu/greece_fires

 

 

 

 

PETITION ONLINE TO THE GREEK PARLIAMENT, THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE

EUROPEAN UNION.

 

http://www.petitiononline.com/forestgr

 

LET'S SIGN IT !

 

THANKS. SHNORHAGALUTYUN. EFHARISTO.

[gamavor]

It is really saddening to see that much destruction, especially in a scarcely forested country like Greece. But, I'm sure there are some notorious business intentions behind the fires, besides the obvious unfavorable summer conditions.

[abass80]

there r not some but many business intentions behind the fires, and there is also the unwillingness of the political system to do anything against the business interests!

i guess someone has to pay for their political campaigns!