Mediterranean gripped by wildfires as blazes spread in Croatia and Portugal

Wildfires were burning in at least nine countries across the Mediterranean as blazes spread in Croatia, Italy, and Portugal, with thousands of firefighters in Europe and North Africa working to contain flames stoked by high temperatures, dry conditions, and strong winds, Report informs via The Guardian.

At least 34 people were killed in Algeria, where 8,000 firefighters on Tuesday battled blazes across the tinder-dry north. Fires burned in a total of 15 provinces, leading to the evacuation of more than 1,500 people from their properties.

The Algerian online news site TSA quoted the National Meteorological Office as saying temperatures had reached about 50C (122F) in some regions.

Among those killed this week were 10 soldiers trapped by flames at Beni Ksila, in Bejaia province, according to the defense ministry. The official APS news agency reported on Monday night that 34 people had died across several regions.

Fanned by strong winds, fires forced the closure of two border crossings with neighboring Tunisia, where blazes have been especially fierce in the north-western Tabarka region.

Greece has also been particularly hard hit this summer, with authorities evacuating more than 20,000 people in recent days from homes and resorts in the south of the holiday island of Rhodes.

Italy has been hit by violent storms and wildfires. At least seven people were killed on Tuesday after storms in the north and wildfires in Sicily.

In France, nearly 100 firefighters were trying to contain a wildfire in the municipalities of Cagnes-sur-Mer and Villeneuve-Loubet, close to the Nice international airport, officials said on Tuesday.

Winds brought disaster to neighboring Montenegro, where two people drowned and several were injured when strong southern winds hit the coast, port authorities in the towns of Ulcinj and Petrovac said.

In Croatia, winds were so strong that firefighting aircraft could not take off, local media reported. Firefighters battled wildfires that were spreading just south of the Adriatic city of Dubrovnik, a tourism destination, late on Tuesday.

A rapidly spreading wildfire at the center of Spain’s island of Gran Canaria on Tuesday prompted authorities to remove several hundred villagers, shut three roads, and deploy firefighting helicopters.

In Türkiye, a hospital, and a dozen homes were evacuated as a precaution in the coastal town of Kemer, where firefighters for a third day battled a blaze raging through a woodland.