VIDEO Heavy fire in Thassos, a favorite destination for Romanians. A locality was evacuated / Announcement of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A strong vegetation fire broke out on Wednesday night on Thassos Island in Greece, in the Limenaria area, one of the favorite destinations of Romanians. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that Romanians who are on Thassos Island avoid traveling in the area affected by the fire and immediately inform the Consulate General of Romania in Thessaloniki if they are affected.

The fire broke out in a pine forest in a hard-to-reach area after 8:00 p.m., which made it almost impossible to raise aircraft that help to extinguish it.

Residents of Kinira, a nearby village, were asked to evacuate the area, through a message received on the emergency number 112, writes the Greek press.

Six firefighting planes, six helicopters and hundreds of firefighters and volunteers, as well as military units, were mobilized to extinguish the fire, the fire department said on Thursday.

The island of Thassos in the northern Aegean Sea is covered with dense forests. Thick clouds of smoke could be seen from far away on Thursday morning, local media reported. No one has been injured so far, the island’s mayor, Lefteris Kyriakidis, told public radio.

More than 13,000 hectares have burned in Greece this year, according to civil defense forces.

Several fires would have been acts of premeditated arson. Climate change is, according to meteorologists, a factor that accelerates the fires.

After several months of drought caused by high temperatures and strong winds, the conditions could turn any small fire into a massive wildfire, forecasters told the national radio station on Thursday.

Announcement of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) reported that the fire, which broke out due to the high temperatures recorded, is currently affecting the east of the island, and the Greek authorities have ordered the evacuation of people from the area, while firefighters fight to extinguish the fire.

The MFA says that, until this moment, no requests for assistance have been received at the level of the diplomatic mission and the consular office.

In this context, the MAE recommends Romanians who are on Thassos Island to avoid traveling in the area affected by the fire and to immediately inform the Consulate General of Romania in Thessaloniki if they are affected by the effects of this fire.

The MFA reminds that affected Romanian citizens can request consular assistance at the following telephone numbers of the Romanian Embassy in Athens: +30 210 6728879, +30 210 6744544, the calls being forwarded to the Contact and Support Center for Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and answered by Call Center operators on a permanent basis or at the emergency number of the diplomatic mission: +30 697 8996222.