Evia

Authorities have arrested two people for allegedly smuggling 35 migrants across the Aegean Sea using an unusual itinerary that brought them to a wildfire-afflicted island close to the mainland.

Greece is still standing thanks to the dedication, professionalism and self-sacrifice of the people who stand on the front line, facing various threats. 

The pilots who lost their lives yesterday while battling the blaze on the island of Evia were two such people. 

More wildfires broke out Wednesday in the central mainland of Greece, triggering a precautionary evacuation order for some outskirts of the town of Lamia.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend the funeral of Second Lieutenant Periklis Stefanidis in Kilkis on Thursday, while President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will be present at the funeral of Captain Christos Moulas in Chania on the island of Crete on Friday.

The wildfires raging on the islands of Rhodes, Evia, Corfu and several locations in mainland Greece caused the first human casualties Tuesday.

Two Greek Air Force pilots died on the island of Evia when a Canadair CL-215 firefighting plane crashed near the town of Karystos shortly after 2 p.m., an Air Force spokesman announced.

A third successive heatwave in Greece pushed temperatures back above 40 C (104 F) across parts of the country Tuesday following more nighttime evacuations from fires that have raged out of control for days.

Firefighters battled all night to control persistent wildfires on the islands of Rhodes, Evia and Corfu, as well as in Achaia in the Peloponnese, as strong winds, soaring temperatures and tinder-dry conditions continued to stoke the flames into Tuesday morning, when water-dumping aircraft joined efforts on the ground.

Our trip to North Evia last year for the Evia Film Project of the Thessaloniki Film Festival stirred up mixed emotions. On the one hand, we felt sadness and anger at the obvious and immense ecological destruction caused by the massive 2021 wildfires in the area.

A 55-year-old man plunged to his death on Saturday morning in the town center of Halkida on the island of Evia in a work-related accident. 

According to reports, the man, a foreign national, fell from a great height while carrying out construction work.

Two fishermen will stand trial for the murder of former minister Sifis Valyrakis in January, 2021 in the sea off Eretria, according to a decision on Thursday by the Halkida plenary council on the island of Evia.

Valyrakis, a former minister and resistance fighter against Greece's 1967-74 military dictatorship, was found dead at sea by the coast guard.