Greece Wildfires: 18 Bodies Found near Alexandroupolis

In a region of northern Greece where flames have been raging for days, firefighters on Tuesday discovered the burned corpses of 18 persons who they suspect to have been migrants who had crossed the Turkish border.

As hundreds of firemen battled dozens of wildfires around the nation under gale-force winds, the finding was made close to Alexandroupolis. 

Two persons perished and two firemen were hurt in separate fires that broke out on Monday in northern and central Greece.

Southern European nations are particularly prone to wildfires due to their hot, dry summers. Although no casualties or property damage have been recorded, a large fire has been blazing over Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands for the past week.

European Union officials have blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe, noting that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017.

In Greece, police activated the country’s Disaster Victim Identification Team to identify the 18 bodies, which were found near a shack in the Avantas area, fire department spokesman Ioannis Artopios said.

“Given that there have been no reports of a missing person or missing residents from the surrounding areas, the possibility is being investigated that these are people who had entered the country illegally,” Artopios said.

Alexandroupolis is near the border with Turkey, along a route often taken by people fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East, Asia and Africa and seeking to enter the European Union.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou expressed sorrow at the deaths in a statement.

“We must urgently take effective initiatives to ensure that this bleak reality does not become the new normality,” she added, referring to the recurrent wildfires.

Avantas, like many nearby villages and settlements, had been under evacuation orders, with push alerts in Greek and English sent to all mobile phones in the region.

The fire service said it was investigating the causes of the blazes, in coordination with the police and secret service. In recent days, several people have been arrested or fined for accidentally starting fires.

But the discovery of the 18 bodies triggered a backlash by some who accused migrants of starting fires.

Late Monday, police said they detained three men in Alexandroupolis suspected of kidnapping and illegally holding 13 migrants. One of the suspects was a man seen in video posted on social media shutting a group of migrants in a trailer and accusing them of “intending to burn us,” a statement from national police headquarters said.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis issued a statement condemning vigilante acts.

Overnight, a massive wall of flames raced through forests toward Alexandroupolis, prompting authorities to evacuate eight more villages and the city’s hospital as flames reddened the sky.