Wildfires are sweeping through Italy’s Sicily, posing a severe threat to the island’s residents. A viral video on Twitter shows two women desperately attempting to escape the area in their car, with smoke and massive flames spreading around them. Despite their fear, they managed to find safety.
A concerned Twitter user shared the video, alerting others to the dangerous situation unfolding in Sicily, where wildfires are dangerously close to cars on the highways. Another video posted by the same user depicted residential areas blanketed in smoke due to the fires.
Tragically, the wildfires on Sicily have already claimed the lives of three elderly individuals. An elderly couple in their 70s was found dead in their scorched home on the outskirts of Palermo, while an 80-year-old woman lost her life when her house was engulfed in flames. Sicilian President Renato Schifani described the day as one of the most difficult in decades due to scorching heat and unprecedented fires.
The Italian firefighters have been relentlessly battling close to 1,400 fires between Sunday and Tuesday, with a significant number of them (approximately 650) occurring in Sicily and 390 in Calabria.
Not only Italy but Greece is also facing a perilous situation as the fires endanger lives and force thousands of people to evacuate. In the past 12 days, Greece has combated over 600 fires, experiencing one of the longest periods of intense heat in recent years. The European Union has responded by deploying more than 490 firefighters and seven planes to different locations in Greece through its civil protection mechanism.
