ATHENS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Greek authorities on Wednesday ordered mass evacuations in Patras, the country's third-largest city, as a wildfire in the southern Peloponnese peninsula spread into residential areas.
Residents were moved to designated shelters, while a children's hospital and a nursing home were evacuated as a precaution, local media Ekathimerini reported.
Patras Mayor Konstantinos Peletidis said the fire's spread was worsened by inadequate firefighting resources. The blaze also destroyed about 550 vehicles at the Patras Customs Office, according to preliminary assessments.
Fire Brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told a briefing late Wednesday that "the situation remains difficult," according to the Greek official news agency AMNA.
He said crews were battling 109 active blazes nationwide, with 48 new forest fires reported in the past 24 hours, 38 of which were brought under control promptly. The largest fronts were in Achaia, Preveza and the island of Chios, while Zakynthos and Kefalonia each faced two fronts.
Authorities estimate that wildfires over the past two days have burned about 10,000 hectares across Greece, including 4,000 hectares on Chios, 2,000 in Achaia, 1,800 near Filippiada in Preveza, and 1,700 on Zakynthos, according to the National Observatory of Athens. ■