Heart-stopping moment Greek locals rush to the sea and SWIM to rescue boats as they desperately try to escape wildfires 

Daily Mail​

13 hours ago

This is the heart-stopping moment Greek locals ran into the sea and swam to rescue boats to escape wildfires.
Dramatic footage shows volunteers of the Hellenic Red Cross hauling the terrified people aboard as a dark, ash-filled sky looms overhead and flames rage.
The rescue operation unfolded in Vrachneika, Achaia, after the blaze broke out at noon on Tuesday and continued to burn until Wednesday.
Fire crews in Greece, Spain, and Portugal are racing to contain wildfires, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed their advance.
Much of southern Europe, however, remains at high risk under hot, dry conditions on Thursday.
A drop in wind speeds allowed firefighting aircraft in the three hard-hit countries to step up water drops, concentrating on existing fire zones rather than chasing fast-moving fronts.
Authorities warned that extreme temperatures are likely to persist.
Spanish authorities reported the death of a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter who sustained severe burns in an area north of Madrid this week.
It was the third reported death in Spain because of the recent fires.
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the region and still cannot return.
In Greece, the fire service said a major blaze outside the southern port city of Patras has been contained on the outskirts of urban areas after a large-scale deployment.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the fire, which authorities said may have been deliberately set.
The European Union's civil protection agency said it responded to requests for assistance this week from Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Albania, sending firefighting planes and helicopters from other member states.
The agency said it had already activated assistance 16 times amid this summer's wildfires as European countries have been hit by 'a high number of catastrophic wildfires'.
The number of activations for 2025 already matches the total for wildfires during the entire 2024 fire season, it said.
In Albania, wildfires in central and southern parts of the country were contained after gutting more than 200 homes.
The country's prime minister Edi Rama promised that police would work 'day and night' to apprehend suspected arsonists blamed by the government for causing some of the fires.
Across the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco battled its largest wildfire of the year this week near Bab Taza, in the north of the country, which burned dense forest, fuelled by strong winds and high temperatures.
Authorities said water-dropping aircraft and more than 450 personnel successfully contained the blaze.
A second wildfire near Tetouan, further north, was also brought under control.
It comes after deadly wildfires which have claimed the lives of at least three people have spread across several British tourist hotspots forcing thousands of evacuations as a scorching heatwave continues to tear through Europe.
Sunseekers have been fleeing Greece's Zakynthos and Kefalonia islands 'by the minute' as raging infernos continue to rip through the Med.
A British bar worker on Zakynthos told Sky News he joined emergency services and locals to help combat a 'shocking' fire near a popular tourist resort.
Since dawn on Wednesday, 4,850 firefighters backed by the army and 33 planes were mobilised across Greece on what promised to be 'a very difficult day', fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
In popular party-resort Laganas, officials ordered young Brit revellers to leave hotels as a 'precautionary measure' after the fires shot clouds of black smoke over the area.
'It's a cocktail of high temperatures, strong winds... and minimal humidity,' the head of civil protection for Western Greece, Nikos Gyftakis, told public broadcaster ERT.
One local official spoke of 'an unending nightmare' as a blaze near the ancient Mycenaean archaeological site of Voudeni, just four miles from Patras, Greece's third-largest city, threatened forested zones and homes, while 7,700 people were evacuated from a nearby town.
A forestry worker was killed Wednesday while responding to a wildfire in southern Turkey, officials said.
The Forestry Ministry said the worker died in an accident involving a fire truck that left four others injured.
Turkey has been battling severe wildfires since late June. A total of 18 people have been killed, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers who died in July.