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State of emergency amid major wildfire on Greek island - as arson investigators called in
A state of emergency has been declared on the third day of major wildfires on the Greek island of Chios.
By Tuesday morning, more than 444 firefighters, 85 fire engines, 11 helicopters, and two water-dropping planes had been scrambled to help tackle the flames, the island's fire department said. Reinforcements have been sent from Athens, the city of Thessaloniki, and nearby island of Lesbos, with Chios's police force also receiving extra support, and the number of military personnel in the area doubled.
The fire department has also sent in an arson investigation team to decipher any criminal cause. Climate crisis and civil protection minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said late on Monday that authorities were "very seriously examining the possibility of an organised criminal act".
"Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court," he added. "Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such." Mr Kefalogiannis said emergency services are tackling "simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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