About 5 thousand people were evacuated and 4 people were hospitalized due to respiratory problems in a forest fire on the Greek island of Crete.

A fire broke out in the forest area in the settlement center of Yerapatra on the Greek island of Crete at noon yesterday. While there was no loss of life in the fire where the flames spread to the houses in the area, 4 people of advanced age who had respiratory problems due to the smoke were hospitalized. Approximately 5 thousand people were evacuated in Achlia and 3 surrounding settlements.

At least 230 firefighters, 46 fire-fighting vehicles and 10 helicopters were dispatched to the scene to fight the flames, Greek Fire Brigade Press Spokesman Vasilis Varthakoyannis said. Varthakoyannis said that due to the strong winds and the difficulty in extinguishing the fires, more teams from the capital Athens were dispatched to the scene by air and sea to fight the blaze. Varthakoyannis stated that an investigation has been launched against suspicions of arson.

Yannis Androulakis, Deputy Governor of Lassithi Prefecture, emphasized the difficulty of the firefighting efforts due to the strong winds and said: "Since there was no air support during the night, we focused on saving as many houses as possible. We carried out a feverish evacuation effort in many hotels in the area and placed these people in an indoor gymnasium belonging to the Municipality of Yerapatra. We do not yet have an idea of the full picture of the devastation and the area has been without electricity during the night and in some places without electricity.