By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) – Wildfires raged for the seventh day in Greece's northeastern region of Evros, as firefighters discovered another charged body, bringing the death toll to 19, local media reported on Friday, adding that the situation in the forest near Athens is improving.
The fire team found another charred body near Lefkimmi, bringing the total number of people killed in the Evros wildfires to 19, the state-run AMNA news agency reported.
Though no new fires have been started in the region, putting out the wildfires remained difficult, public broadcaster ERT said, adding that firefighting teams from Greece, Albania, the Czech Republic, and Romania are still battling the fires.
The EU's Copernicus Emergency Management Service stated on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter that nearly 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of additional forest area burned in northeastern Greece in the last 24 hours.
Concerning the fires in Parnitha National Park, located north of Athens, it stated that the picture of the situation has significantly improved as the wind has abated, facilitating the extinguishing efforts of the firefighters.
In a separate statement, government spokesperson Pavlos Marikanis said that "the country is facing the second wave of disastrous wildfires for the seventh consecutive day."
He added that the National Fire Service has been called to put out 516 new forest fires that have erupted since last Friday.
On Tuesday, 18 bodies, including two children, were found in the Dadia forest area of the Evros region.
Greek authorities stated that the bodies most likely belonged to irregular migrants who were trapped by the strong fires in the region.