Anger after yacht fireworks spark blaze in Hydra

13 individuals have been arrested following a forest hearth on the Greek island of Hydra, that authorities allege was sparked by fireworks launched from a superyacht.

Friday’s blaze burnt via 300 acres of the one pine forest on the famend vacationer island, which lies south of Athens, Greece’s Local weather Disaster Minister Vassilis Kikilias mentioned.

The flames have been introduced below management, however with issue. As there aren’t any roads to the seashore, firefighters needed to entry it by sea, whereas helicopters dropped water from the air.

Greek media reported that each one these arrested are crew members of the superyacht, Persephoni. It’s out there for summer time constitution from €249,000 per week (£211,200; $269,300), in response to a number of luxurious yacht sellers on-line.

The general public prosecutor has requested for the vessel to be confiscated, Mr Kikilias was quoted as saying.

A number of native media shops, citing court docket paperwork, reported that the guests on the yacht have been 17 Kazakhstan nationals who’ve since left Greece, nevertheless the BBC has been unable to independently confirm this.

On Sunday morning, the crew have been filmed strolling into the Piraeus Prosecutor’s Workplace, sporting matching work uniforms and protecting their faces with sun shades, masks and hats.

There’s rivalry between Greece’s coast guard, and the hearth division.

Native media is reporting that whereas hearth officers are counting on the assertion of a captain of a close-by vessel, who allegedly noticed flares or fireworks being launched from Persephoni – the coast guard says there is no such thing as a proof of this.

The alleged explanation for the hearth has prompted outrage in Greece, which is already battling a number of wildfires and is within the grip of its first heatwave of the 12 months.

“We’re indignant that some individuals so irresponsibly throw fireworks right into a pine forest,” Hydra’s mayor, Giorgos Koukoudakis, instructed Greek broadcaster ERT on Saturday.

There has additionally been condemnation on social media: “Wealthy individuals with more cash than brains,” wrote one individual.

Greece has been on excessive alert for wildfires since Tuesday, and authorities are bracing for a tough summer time as dry situations, sturdy winds and excessive temperatures are set to proceed.

On Friday, a 55-year-old volunteer firefighter died from accidents he sustained battling a fireplace within the southern area of Ilia on the Peloponnese peninsula.

Summer season wildfires are widespread in Greece and scientists have linked the growing frequency and depth of utmost climate occasions, together with heatwaves, to local weather change.

However the nation additionally has an issue with arsonists – at the least 79 individuals have been arrested final August over lethal wildfires.

Earlier this 12 months, Greece introduced in harder arsonist legal guidelines, with perpetrators going through as much as 20 years in jail and fines of as much as €200,000.