Massive wildfire in northeastern Greece persists for 11th day despite European firefighting efforts
A massive wildfire is burning unabated in northeastern Greece for the 11th day despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and a fleet of water-dropping aircraft ATHENS, Greece -- A massive wildfire was burning unabated in northeastern Greece for the 11th day Tuesday despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and a fleet of water-dropping aircraft from Greece and several of its European Union partners. After burning across vast tracts of land, the blaze in the Alexandroupolis and Evros region was mainly concentrated deep in a forest near the border with Turkey, in an area difficult to access. The wildfire, which was blamed for 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece last week, is the biggest in the EU since record keeping started in 2000. Six planes and four helicopters were assisting 475 firefighters on the ground, backed by 100 vehicles, the fire department said. Another 260 firefighters and one helicopter were tackling flare-ups of another major fire burning for d...