Greek island wildfire kills two people as helicopters called in to tackle Belgium forest blaze

Two people have died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis as firefighting aircraft were called on to help tame the biggest blaze in Belgium in more than a century in the latest wave of wildfires in Europe.

The bodies of two people were recovered from the Peristeria beach area of Salamis on Sunday after two fires broke out on the island, a fire department spokesperson told AFP. Hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate.

In Belgium, a wildfire that broke out on Friday in the High Fens, a large nature reserve in the east of Belgium that is popular with hikers, had ravaged 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land and was encroaching on the border with Germany by early Sunday morning.

About 600 people in the municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liège province close to the German border, were told to evacuate from their homes and tourists were advised to leave on Saturday afternoon as winds shifted and smoke spread. Of those who followed the order, about 20 spent the night in a sports hall while others sought refuge with family and friends.

Hervé Jamar, the provincial governor of Liège, said more than 250 firefighters and emergency staff were involved in the operation including firefighters from Germany.

Farmers have also been helping to battle the blaze, using their tractors to pull in water from Lake Robertville.

Air support, provided by two water-bombing aircraft from Sweden and four helicopters – two from Belgium and two from the Netherlands – is crucial owing to the nature reserve’s complex and fragile terrain, which is made up of dense forest, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks where heavy firefighting vehicles risk sinking.

Access to Bütgenbach lake was prohibited on Sunday in order to allow the aircraft to refill.

Authorities described the conditions as still challenging, although two fire fronts towards Jalhay and Monschau were now under control, Belgium’s interior minister, Bernard Quintin, said after visiting the crisis centre in Vottem on Sunday afternoon.

“On this third day of fighting the fires, all resources remain mobilised on the ground,” he wrote on X, and thanked all those involved. “We can also count on the solidarity of our European partners … thank you to everyone who mobilised to fight the fires. United, we are stronger.”

The fire, described by officials as the largest in Belgium’s modern history, began in an area that was ravaged by massive wildfires in 1911 during a drought.

Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters from heatwaves to floods to wildfires.

Much of Europe is experiencing a new period of intense heat, creating conditions conducive to wildfire outbreaks.

On Friday, a fire engulfed ⁠homes in a Croatian holiday resort, killing one person, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to evacuate, officials said, as the EU warned that pockets of “very extreme” wildfire conditions stretched across the continent.

Hundreds more people were evacuated from villages in western Germany and south-west France, while stranded holidaymakers were picked up from beaches threatened by flames in Greece and the army rescued historic relics in Spain.