Greek firefighters battle ‘raging’ forest fire near Athens

PM Mitsotakis says wildfire in the capital’s northern suburbs is a ‘nightmare’ as thousands evacuate.

People in Athens are being advised to stay indoors while firefighters tackle a raging forest fire on the outskirts of the Greek capital that has forced thousands to flee their homes amid the country’s worst heatwave in decades. Greece’s fire service said on Wednesday that it hoped to bring the blaze in the Athens suburbs of Varympompi and Tatoi under control “in the coming hours”, with more than 500 firefighters leading efforts. They were assisted by nine helicopters, five aircraft, police and the army.