VIDEO: Sicily set for state of emergency as wildfires blaze
Firefighters on Italy's southern island of Sicily have been battling huge wildfires that have left three elderly people dead. Authorities were expected to declare a state of emergency on Wednesday.
Sicily's regional president Renato Schifani said he planned to ask the government ahead of a Wednesday ministers' meeting to declare a state of emergency for the Mediterranean island.
Firefighters on the island spent a night battling wildfires, one of which got so close to Palermo airport that the facility was shut down for several hours Tuesday morning.
Fire now choking Palermo in Sicily. pic.twitter.com/TGhB8s3lnt
— Brendan May (@bmay) July 25, 2023
Italy's Civil Protection Department on Tuesday reported "extensive fires" across the south, saying air support had been requested for nine incidents in Sicily, nine in Calabria and another in Sardinia.
Perfectly normal weather scenes at Palermo airport in Sicily last night. #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/dwfEk4mRPg
— Brendan May (@bmay) July 25, 2023
AFP news agency reported that the charred bodies of a couple in their 70s were found in their burnt-out home on the outskirts of Palermo and another woman in her late 80s died in the Palermo province after an ambulance was unable to reach her home due to fires in the area.
Some 120 families were evacuated from their homes nearby and power cuts were reported in many parts of Palermo, according to news agency Ansa.
Dramatic eyewitness video captured raging flames close to a highway in Palermo as firefighters raced against time to put out the wildfires. The blaze caused the temporary closure of Palermo airport on the southern Italian island of Sicily https://t.co/SPESRMxsAI pic.twitter.com/XxOJKU6irO
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 25, 2023
Fires were still burning on the hills around Palermo on Wednesday, with Canadair planes operating in the skies over the island to try and douse the flames.
Italian firefighters said they battled nearly 1,400 fires between Sunday and Tuesday, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria.
Forest fires that started on the island of Sicily in Italy continue to spread due to the wind:
💢 The fire has spread to the highways.
💢 Air traffic was temporarily suspended at Palermo Airport.
💢 1,500 people living in the region were evacuated due to the forest fires. pic.twitter.com/j3pyjPXHsu
— gdh news (@gdhnews) July 26, 2023
On Tuesday Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said: "We are experiencing in Italy one of the most complicated days in recent decades -- rainstorms, tornadoes and giant hail in the north, and scorching heat and devastating fires in the centre and south."
There are growing fears the wildfires will ruin threaten the island's tourist industry at the height of its busiest period.
"I hope that tourist flows in the areas affected by the fires will not suffer losses," Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci, a Sicilian, told the La Stampa newspaper. "The risk ... is there and it is understandable".
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Sicily's regional president Renato Schifani said he planned to ask the government ahead of a Wednesday ministers' meeting to declare a state of emergency for the Mediterranean island.
Firefighters on the island spent a night battling wildfires, one of which got so close to Palermo airport that the facility was shut down for several hours Tuesday morning.
Fire now choking Palermo in Sicily. pic.twitter.com/TGhB8s3lnt
— Brendan May (@bmay) July 25, 2023
Italy's Civil Protection Department on Tuesday reported "extensive fires" across the south, saying air support had been requested for nine incidents in Sicily, nine in Calabria and another in Sardinia.
Perfectly normal weather scenes at Palermo airport in Sicily last night. #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/dwfEk4mRPg
— Brendan May (@bmay) July 25, 2023
AFP news agency reported that the charred bodies of a couple in their 70s were found in their burnt-out home on the outskirts of Palermo and another woman in her late 80s died in the Palermo province after an ambulance was unable to reach her home due to fires in the area.
Some 120 families were evacuated from their homes nearby and power cuts were reported in many parts of Palermo, according to news agency Ansa.
Dramatic eyewitness video captured raging flames close to a highway in Palermo as firefighters raced against time to put out the wildfires. The blaze caused the temporary closure of Palermo airport on the southern Italian island of Sicily https://t.co/SPESRMxsAI pic.twitter.com/XxOJKU6irO
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 25, 2023
Fires were still burning on the hills around Palermo on Wednesday, with Canadair planes operating in the skies over the island to try and douse the flames.
Italian firefighters said they battled nearly 1,400 fires between Sunday and Tuesday, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria.
Forest fires that started on the island of Sicily in Italy continue to spread due to the wind:
— gdh news (@gdhnews) July 26, 2023
💢 The fire has spread to the highways.
💢 Air traffic was temporarily suspended at Palermo Airport.
💢 1,500 people living in the region were evacuated due to the forest fires. pic.twitter.com/j3pyjPXHsu
On Tuesday Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said: "We are experiencing in Italy one of the most complicated days in recent decades -- rainstorms, tornadoes and giant hail in the north, and scorching heat and devastating fires in the centre and south."
There are growing fears the wildfires will ruin threaten the island's tourist industry at the height of its busiest period.
"I hope that tourist flows in the areas affected by the fires will not suffer losses," Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci, a Sicilian, told the La Stampa newspaper. "The risk ... is there and it is understandable".
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