- Wildfires devastate Italy’s Sardinia.
- Hundreds of local residents and tourists evacuated from looming disaster.
- Italian government asks for EU help to fight Sardinia wildfires.
More than 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of forest and land have been devastated on Italian island of Sardinia as massive wildfires raged through the Montiferru region in the island’s west side. The outbreaks also stretched east to the province of Ogliastra.
The region’s governor, Christian Solinas, called it “a disaster without precedent” as he introduced a state of emergency on Sunday.
The walls of fire moving along the mountain slopes in Sardinia and closing in on some settlements, as plumes of black smoke blot out the skies overhead. Firefighting aircraft water-bomb the blaze just meters away from homes.
Hundreds of local residents and tourists were evacuated across the island as the authorities sought to protect them from the looming catastrophe.
As the firefighters and first responders are fighting to subdue the inferno that rages on for a third day straight, Italian government in Rome is asking the European Union for help with disaster.
No deaths or injuries have been reported so far but hundreds of sheep, goats, cows and pigs died in the blaze as they were trapped in barns at farms in the wildfires’ path. On Monday, the fires that raged over the weekend were still raging close to at least 13 Sardinian towns, despite the efforts of at least 11 firefighting aircraft and fire crews on the ground.
The emergency services’ efforts have been hampered by the strong and hot winds still blowing through the island. On Sunday, Italy asked European nations for help tackling the fires and particularly called on them to send specialized firefighting aircraft. In response, the EU agreed to send four Canadair planes to help Italy. Two of them were provided by France and another pair by Greece.
“During these difficult times, we stand together,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a tweet on Monday, as he announced the move.
