State of emergency declared on Ionian island of Zakynthos amid spate of fires
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection on Tuesday declared the Ionian island of Zakynthos to be in a state of emergency amid of spate of wild fires that have tested firefighting services over the past two days.
The announcement following a request by Zakynthos Mayor Pavlos Kolokotsas late on Monday. He asked for the island to be declared in a state of emergency for the next six months.
In comments to the Athens-Macedonia News Agency, Kolokotsas claimed that the island had been targeted by arsonists, noting that on Tuesday alone 12 fires were burning simultaneously.
