Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-08-25

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] First proof of arson at Hymettus blaze

[02] Papandreou visits fire-stricken Zaharo

[03] KKE leader Papariga visits fire-plagued region

[04] Leftist leader refers to nat'l tragedy

[01] First proof of arson at Hymettus blaze

Another report had police chasing a vehicle in which its passengers allegedly threw lit rags outside into the brush.

Additionally, eyewitnesses reported explosions prior to the fire�s eruption on Hymettus, whereas what was described as a homemade incendiary device was found on another mountain range north of Athens, on Mt. Dionysus.

Moreover, the fire brigade reported that several emergency calls to its emergency centre were hoaxes, with only the Hymettus blaze active in the greater Athens area on Saturday afternoon, as the upper fringes of eastern Athens districts of Papagou, Kesariani and Zografou continue to be threatened.

The wildfire on the lower slopes of the Mt. Hymettus came as dozens of blazes continued to rage around the country, with the confirmed death toll reaching 38 but with several people missing and feared dead.

Dense smoke was seen over Athens due to the blaze, as helicopters and fire-fighting planes dumped water on the wildfire.

Additionally, parts of the Styra district in southern Evia island were evacuated on Saturday as well, as an extensive wildfire was burning in the area, south of the area where a destructive wildfire erupted in mid July.

Caption: A scene from the blaze on the slopes of Mt. Hymettus, in eastern Athens, on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007. ANA-MPA / STR

[02] Papandreou visits fire-stricken Zaharo

"Tonight (early Saturday morning) we are living, all together, one of those nights that we will not forget," Papandreou said, immediately after his return from the northern city of Serres, where he had arrived to give a campaign speech, cut short by news of the wildfires and accompanying deaths.

He stressed that "human lives, the human tragedy, this biblical destruction is something which is very difficult to describe."

Papandreou also spoke of "major responsibilities," but added that "it is not the time to discuss them because now is a moment of support, help and solidarity."

In a related development, PASOK suspended all of its weekend campaign activities and announced that 30 percent of the party's election funds will go to people affected by the wildfires in the Peloponnese, a PASOK spokesman said on Saturday afternoon.

[03] KKE leader Papariga visits fire-plagued region

"Tears are no longer enough, neither rage and indignation for the human, natural and economic tragedy, which we have in Messinia, Laconia and Ilia. And we don't know up to where it will reach," Papariga said.

She also stressed that "the matter is clearly political, with the following meaning: One can deal with natural phenomena and natural tragedies ... natural phenomena are not unconquerable ... Everything has a beginning and an end, and in the middle profit."

[04] Leftist leader refers to nat'l tragedy

"In these difficult hours of national tragedy, society is flooded by sentiments of grief and outrage. Grief over the loss of human lives, country's natural wealth and crops, and the lost livestock, the destroyed houses and property. Outrage because the New Democracy government, protected in the air conditioned halls of Maximos Mansion (the prime minister's office), provided the minimal forces of an already collapsed state apparatus," an announcement by the radical left coalition, Syriza -- the formation that Alavanos heads in the coming Sept. 16 election -- charged.

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