Mediterranean continues to burn as wildfires kill more than 40

Over 40 people have died in Italy, Algeria and Greece while thousands have been evacuated as wildfires continue to sweep large swaths of the Mediterranean.

Thirty-four people have died in Algeria alone, with the coastal province of Bejaia, east of Algiers accounting for 23 deaths. Although Algerian authorities claimed that 80 per cent of the blazes had been put out since Sunday, a massive firefighting effort was still underway to bring the situation under complete control. Some 8,000 firefighting personnel, hundreds of fire engines and aircraft have been pushed into service.

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Italy hit by wildfires

Meanwhile, Italy has been hit by contrasting weather conditions with deadly storms engulfing the north while scorching heat, tempering the land in Sicily as well as several southern regions.

According to a BBC report, an elderly couple in their 70s was charred to death in a holiday home in Palermo, after fire came close to the boundary of the city's airport. An 88-year-old woman also died near the city.

In Calabria, located east of Sicily, a man touching 100 was trapped by flames in his home while his daughter and son-in-law suffered burns while trying to save him.

Fires have also raged in neighbouring Tunisia, where 300 people had to be evacuated from the coastal village of Melloula.

Greece suffers

Earlier this week, two pilots died in a tragic incident after aplane they were operating crashed on the island of Evia, near Athens, where a fire had been raging for several days.

The aircraft, a Canadair CL-215 belonging to the Greek air force, was shown in footage dropping water over a fire before crashing into a hillside and catching fire.

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The situation in Greece has been dire due to rampant wildfires, with the island of Rhodes being severely affected. The blazes have been raging since Wednesday and intensified due to hot and windy conditions.

"For the next few weeks, we must be on constant alert. We are at war. We will rebuild what we lost, we will compensate those who were hurt," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament, as quoted by Reuters.

"The climate crisis is already here, it will manifest itself everywhere in the Mediterranean with greater disasters," he said.

According to experts, the Mediterranean burning like a blowtorch may have never happened without human-induced climate change.

(With inputs from agencies)

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