Horror moment inferno erupts at beach sending tourists fleeing as wildfires hit THIRD Europe hotspot & 4 dead in Turkey
Sunbathers were sent fleeing after flames reached right up to the sand near Punta Molentis on the southeast of the island.
7
Flames reached right down to the beach in Sardinia
Credit: x.com/@volcaholic1
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The fire raged as sunbathers tried to flee
Credit: x.com/@volcaholic1
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Planes and helicopters were sent to help battle the blaze
Credit: x/@vigilidelfuoco
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The island's coast guard evacuated 102 people by sea while a helicopter watched from above during the operation after the sunseekers were blocked from driving off.
Some 200 cars and a kiosk were torched and strong winds made the job for firefighters tackling the blaze trickier.
Beachgoers filmed the thick black and grey smoke rising into the sky as they gathered their towels and spades and prepared to flee.
Footage also showed the motors burned out after flames had ripped through the parking area.
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Many of those at the beach had driven down near the water to save them walking in the 34C heat.
The area of the Sardinian coast is known as Sarrabus - with local media saying a "jewel" had been destroyed in the fire.
Firefighters battled the blaze from the air with two Canadair aerial firefighting plane, a firefighting helicopter, aircraft from the regional fleet, and an Italian Air Force vehicle.
It comes after
Most read in The US Sun
Some 3,500 people have been evacuated after the wildfires hit the northwest of the country.
More than 1,900 firefighters were drafted in to help save those still trapped and to extinguish the flames.
Fresh wildfires engulf Turkey as 1,500 flee their homes and firefighter dies days after raging blazes killed 13
Firefighters have been
battling more than 600 fires fuelled by high winds
in the drought-hit nation over the past week.
Fires have also hit Greece after a week-long heatwave peaked with temperatures surpassing 45 degrees.
Thousands of people were evacuated as
.
A
wildfire
burned through a northern suburb of the Greek capital on Saturday, and some residents were ordered to evacuate, the country's Fire Service reported.
7
The torched cars at Punta Molentis
Credit: x.com/@volcaholic1
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The fires at Punta Molentis seen from a distance
Credit: x/@vigilidelfuoco
Firefighters were also battling
three other major fires on
.
Strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly and prompting evacuations of several settlements.
On the island of Evia, 115 firefighters and 24 vehicles were deployed to put out fires, assisted by six planes and seven helicopters.
Cyprus has been hit with its
worst wildfires "for 50 years"
amid growing fears a 44C heatwave will fuel the blaze even further.
One Brit family, Lucy and Ben Armstrong, tragically had their home in the Troodos mountains burned during the fires on the island.
Speaking to The Sun, Ben said: "We lost everything that day, there's nothing left.
"We had fish tanks in the house and there was absolutely nothing left of what was in the water except melted glass on the floor."
Two people were found dead in a burnt car and over 70 houses were destroyed
in the fires.
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The Italian coastguard racing towards the fire in a dinghy
Credit: Reuters
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