Greek PM thanks Arab efforts in fighting wildfires

Greek PM thanks Arab efforts in fighting wildfires
Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis thanked the international community for its efforts in combating the wildifres, amongst which were four Arab countries.
2 min read
09 August, 2021
Wildfires have ravaged parts of Greece [Getty]

Arab countries were among dozens of countries to send firefighters and equipment to Greece, as Athens battles to put out wildfires that have ravaged parts of the country.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent out a thank you message on Twitter for the global support in response to the fires, sharing an infographic showing the support from countries across the globe.

Included in the list were Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, and the UAE.

"On behalf of the Greek people, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the countries that have sent assistance and resources to help fight the wildfires. We thank you for standing by Greece during these trying times," Mitsotakis said.

The graphic showed that Egypt had sent two helicopters, Kuwait 42 firefighters, Qatar three fire trucks and 66 firefighters, and the UAE a helicopter.

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On Monday, Greek authorities have begun assessing the damage from wildfires that have devastated huge swathes of forest and forced thousands of people to flee from their homes over the past week, as fires burned unabated through many parts of the country on Monday.

Greece has received assistance from a number of European countries to help battle the flames and more than 600 firefighters tried to contain the fire on Evia on Monday.

More than 2,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated by ferry since last Tuesday.