Italy: Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists as wildfire rages

Rome: The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since Friday.

Reinforcement firefighters were on their way from other regions and the onsite teams were using drones to better monitor the spread of the fire, the service said on Telegram.

“For safety reasons and… to facilitate firefighting and cleanup operations in the affected areas, all activities along the Vesuvius National Park trail network are suspended until further notice,” the park said in a statement Saturday.

Nearly 620,000 people visited the volcano’s crater in 2024, according to the park.

The smoke from the fire could be seen from the Pompeii archeological site, which however remained open to tourists.

Experts say European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to wildfires due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming.

In southern France, firefighters have contained a massive wildfire but local officials warned on Sunday that scorching heat and dry conditions could reignite the blaze, as parts of the Mediterranean region face a heatwave.

The fire has ravaged a vast area of France’s southern Aude department at the peak of the summer tourist season, killing one person and injuring several others.

A fire at a historic mosque-turned-cathedral in Cordoba in southern Spain also caused damage.

The spectacular blaze broke out on Friday at about 9:00 pm (1900 GMT), raising fears for the early medieval architectural gem and evoking memories of the 2019 fire that ravaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

France sends firefighters to help Greece battle blaze raging near Athens

And in Greece, hundreds of firefighters battled a deadly wildfire near Athens for a second day Saturday, with strong winds raising fears it could spread.

A fire department spokesman said more than 260 firefighters with nearly 80 fire engines and 12 aircraft were deployed near Keratea, a rural area some 43 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of Athens.

“The fire has weakened but there are still active pockets,” the spokesman said.

A new fire broke out close to the nearby town of Kouvaras on Saturday but was quickly brought under control.