Evros

There is a very high risk of fire (risk category 4) for the border region of Evros and the island of Samothraki on Saturday, according to the Fire Risk Forecast Map issued by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection on Friday.

The map showed there is also high risk of fire (risk category 3) for several other Greek regions.

Eight people were arrested in northern Greece in the past two days for attempting to transport a total of 57 migrants into Greek territory, the police reported on Wednesday. Seven of the suspects are foreign nationals and one is Greek.

The suspects were detained in the regional units of Drama, Evros and Rodopi in separate incidents on 14-15 August.

Five regions in Greece will be at very high risk of fires on Saturday, based on the Fire Risk Forecast Map issued by the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

Ruling New Democracy has accused Kyriakos Velopoulos, the leader of the populist nationalist Greek Solution party, of disseminating "fake news" concerning Greece's border fence intended to prevent illegal migration along the Evros border with Turkey.

Authorities said they rescued 145 migrants found stranded Thursday on an islet on the river that runs along the northeastern land border with Turkey.

Police said that the 70 men, 45 women and 30 children were all in good health and identified as Syrians or Kurds. Greek authorities launched the rescue after being alerted to the migrants' presence by a nongovernmental organization.

Dozens of children were among 145 asylum seekers who were rescued off an islet in the Evros River on the Greek-Turkish border on Thursday morning.

They had reportedly been stranded on the islet for several days after apparently trying to cross into Greece from Turkey. How they became stranded was not clear.

A Moroccan migrant who was injured by gunfire while crossing from Turkey into Greece Thursday is being hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries, Greek officials said.

Greece's caretaker Foreign Minister Vassilis Kaskarelis and Turkey's newly sworn Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the migration issue in a phone call Tuesday.

Migrant flows into Greece have picked up over the past few weeks, aided by lower water levels on the Evros river, which forms almost all the land border between the two countries.

Greek authorities said Monday they had arrested five police officers from a special border guard force on suspicion of working with smugglers to help migrants cross into the country from neighboring Turkey.

Greek authorities on Wednesday rescued a group of 39 migrants who had been abandoned by smugglers on an islet in the river that runs along the country's land border with Turkey, police said.

A police statement said the 13 men, 11 women and 15 children had been ferried across in a plastic boat from the Turkish side of the Evros river.