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Three Greek firefighters have died tackling wildfires in Crete and in the Peloponnese.<\/b><\/p>\n
In Crete, gale-force winds whipped up flames prompting the evacuation of several villages, and two firefighters died after becoming trapped when the blaze swept through the Rethymno region, in the island’s west.<\/p>\n
Another firefighter died after being found unconscious near the southern Peloponnese port town of Gytheio.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a fourth heatwave of the summer has begun in Spain and France, with firefighters trying to prevent a flare-up from major wildfires that have only just been brought under control.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said several fires broke out on Crete and spread fast, with the worst fire front extending as far as 15km (9.3 miles).<\/p>\n
Residents and tourists have been evacuated from Krya Vrysi, the mountain village where the two firefighters died.<\/p>\n
“The wind is unbelievable \u2013 you can’t stand sometimes. The flames were huge, it was really scary,” resident Chrissa Gioukaki told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Wildfires have also broken out elsewhere in Greece, on the islands of Paros and Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, and the southern town of Trifylia on the Greek mainland.<\/p>\n
In southern Turkey, the main highway connecting Fethiye and Antalya had to be closed and part of a hospital evacuated because of a fire in Mu\u011fla province.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n