Fire

Hundreds of people have attended a memorial service in the Greek seaside resort of Mati for the dozens who perished in a wildfire that devastated the area.

Bishop Kyrillos presided over Sunday's service at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, six days after the fire swept through and killed at least 86 people.

The soot-smothered mermaid doll lying among the detritus of a fire-gutted home may have been in a child's hands just before the flames swept through.

With criticism mounting against the government over its response, or lack thereof, to last week's devastating wildfire, Citizens' Protection Minister Nikos Toskas insisted that "no operational mistakes were made."

Funerals for victims of Greece's lethal wildfire have begun, with the burial of an elderly priest who drowned as he sought safety from the flames in the sea off the Mari coastal resort.

Hundreds attended Father Spyridon Papapostolous funeral Saturday in his parish of Halandri, a northern suburb of the Greek capital, AP reported.

Frantic relatives headed to the Athens morgue Thursday to seek the fate of loved ones still missing after Greeces deadliest forest fire in decades, a blaze that Greek authorities said they increasingly suspect resulted from arson.

Italy is offering two Canadair aircraft to help Greece battle wildfires that have killed dozens of people near Athens.

Premier Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday tweeted Italy's support for Greece and condolences for those who have died. He announced Italy was making the two water-dropping aircraft available.

A fire that started on Sunday in the area of Gazi, a town six  kilometres west of Iraklio, on the north coast of Crete, was extinguished in the afternoon, after burning one truck and several motorcycles parked near by.

Fire services sent 15 men and five vehicles to stop the flames from reaching nearby homes.

Authorities say that a fire that broke out early Tuesday outside a recycling unit in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, is now under control.

A firefighting force of 13 men and 6 fire engines are operating at the scene.

No injuries were reported. It was unclear what started the fire.

More than fifty people, including 15 children, were evacuated from a burning five-storey residential building in the center of the Russian city of Sochi.
 
At 19:19 local time, the fire was localized, and half an hour later, the fire was extinguished.
 

Two coaches on a fast passenger train caught on fire at Konyovo station between Nova Zagora and Yambol.
 
The report of the incident was filed around 20.02. Two fire-fighting teams arrived on the scene and began extinguish the fire. Other teams of the fire brigade, police, ambulances and BDZ staff are traveling to the scene.