Hazards

Most Balkan countries have learned no lessons from last's year's rampaging wildfires, and are again ill-prepared to deal with serious blazes this summer.

The arsonist who started the wildfires late on June 21 in the southwestern province of Muğla's Marmaris district was detained late on June 23 and arrested early June 24.

The 34-year-old Sacit Ayhan admitted that he started the fires after getting furious about a "commercial dispute inside the family."

One person died in Iraq and more than 5,000 were treated in hospitals on May 5 for respiratory ailments due to a sandstorm, the seventh in a month, the Health Ministry said.

According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, 60 tenants were evacuated from the building.
"Seven people were hit by the explosion, two of whom died," the ministry said in a statement.
A source from the ministry told TASS that a twelve-year-old boy was killed and that one child was injured.

A large oil spill off the southern California coast left fish dead, birds mired in petroleum and wetlands contaminated, prompting local officials to call it an environmental catastrophe.

The U.S. Coast Guard, heading a clean-up response involving federal, state and city agencies, said on Sunday there was an around-the-clock investigation into how the spill occurred.

A controlled explosion took place

With the fire in Vilia not extinguished, another fire in Lavreotiki sounded the alarm in the early hours of Friday, but fortunately with a happy ending.

The fire reached a breath from a settlement that fortunately was not in danger, with the mayor of Lavreotiki reporting an arson after a flare.

Evacuation order via 112

High temperatures and dry weather assisted the spread of wildfires in Southern Europe with Italy being one of the worst hit. The wildfires advanced as far as the suburbs of the Italian capital Rome, Reuters elaborated. Local residents were evacuated from small communities around 40 km east of the ancient city.

In Turkey's Mediterranean region and across the country, with a much harsher fire season than in previous years, the area burned this year has increased nearly nine-fold on average with the latest fires, according to an expert.

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Balkan countries are battling wildfires that have claimed eight lives in Turkey and injured hundreds more, while one person died in Albania and a military officer been injured.

Fires have destroyed land, forests, houses and tourist accommodation in Greece and Turkey. Villages and neighbourhoods have been evacuated in Turkey, Greece and Albania.