25 irregular migrants rescued from fire in Greek region where 18 burned to death

Athens/Nicosia, Sep 1 (EFE).- Twenty-five irregular immigrants were rescued Friday from a fire that has been raging for two weeks in the northeastern region of Evros in Greece.

The same fire killed at least 18 migrants who had entered the country from nearby Turkey. Their bodies were found on Aug. 22.

The 25 migrants were rescued Friday by firefighters in the forest of Dadia and with the help of police were being moved to local village, according to the Greek public broadcaster ERT, without giving further details.

The fire department, which confirmed that they are irregular immigrants, said that they managed to open a gap in the fire to rescue them from the flames, according to local media.

On Aug. 22, the bodies of 18 irregular migrants, including two children, were found in the area, and close to that group, another body was later found, believed to be that of someone who had crossed the border from Turkey.

Nearly 600 firefighters, with 100 vehicles, six air tankers and two helicopters are trying to contain the mega-fire that began on Aug. 19 and has already burned more than 81,000 hectares.

The blaze, the largest ever recorded in the European Union, is the most serious of a wave of fires that has been affecting Greece for the past two weeks and have devastated 160,000 hectares – 1.2% of the country’s surface – according to the European Forest Fire Information System. EFE

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