La Palma: Spain`s Prime Minister broke off his holiday to inspect the devastation caused by forest fires raging on an island in the Canaries which have forced thousands to flee their homes.
In Greece, meanwhile, firefighters supported by water-dropping planes were battling forest fires in the southern Peloponnese peninsula and the northeast region of Kavala.
The two countries have been among the worst hit by wildfires that have swept across southern Europe in the past two weeks amid sizzling temperatures and fierce winds.
Around 500 firefighters, forest rangers and soldiers fought the flames on Spain`s small holiday island of La Palma and planes dumped water in an effort to bring the blazes under control.
Fanned by strong winds, the fires have now destroyed between 1,500 and 2,000 hectares (3,700 to 4,900 acres) of pine forest and dozens of homes since they broke out Friday night, local authorities said.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who began his summer holiday yesterday on the Canary island of Lanzarote, flew to La Palma later in the day where he visited one of the areas affected.
Bureau Report
