Greece Rescues 25 Migrants from Deadly Fire

(Patria) - Greece on Friday rescued a group of 25 migrants trapped in a forest fire burning in the northeastern Evros region for almost two weeks, authorities said.

The Evros fire, Europe's deadliest this summer, has been burning for 14 days after killing
at least 20 people, destroying homes and livelihoods and scorching lush forests, Reuters reports.

All but one of those believed to have died in the Evros blaze were migrants who had crossed from
Turkey, evading police in the forest. Evros is a popular crossing into the European Union for thousands of migrants and refugees every year.

Planes and hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze in the Dadia forest on Friday amid winds that were rapidly changing direction.

"While operating between the villages of Giannouli and Dadia, the fire service and police found 25 people and took them to safety," said Greek fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios.

All the migrants were men and said they were from Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, a police official said. The official said they were arrested.

The Copernicus emergency service said the Evros fire had devastated at least 812.6 square kilometers of terrain.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said at least 30% of the protected Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli forest in Greece had been burned.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that Greece would launch drones, install temperature sensors in the forest and hire more staff to improve firefighting after criticism from climate activists.