Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-07-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] British PM addresses letter to Karamanlis

[02] Fire on Mount Hymettus under control

[01] British PM addresses letter to Karamanlis

The British PM referred to the close bilateral ties and cooperation on a number of international and European issues.

Brown expressed satisfaction for the attention given by Prime Minister Karamanlis to the effects of climate change and stressed that he is looking forward to cooperation between the two countries on environmental issues. He also referred to the recent disasters that hit the two countries; wildfires in Greece and extensive floods in Britain.

[02] Fire on Mount Hymettus under control

Fire-fighters said that the strong winds that were blowing in the area earlier in the afternoon had died down, assisting their efforts to get the fire under control, but stressed that strong fire-fighting forces would remain to ensure that it did not flare up again.

The fire broke out at around 15:00 on Monday near the Kessariani junction on the Kareas ring road and was quickly fanned to large dimensions by strong winds blowing in the area, forcing traffic to halt in both directions on the Hymettus orbital highway.

The fire broke out for unknown reasons just beneath the Hymettus orbital road and quickly spread over a large distance along its length, while it was not far from residential areas.

A strong force of 30 firefighters with ten fire engines was initially sent to battle the blaze, assisted by three firefighting airplanes and three helicopters. Additional reinforcements were quickly sent in, led by the chief of the fire brigade Andreas Kois, in a bid to get the fire under control before it grew even further.

Taking part in the fire-fighting effort were six aircraft, three helicopters, 60 firemen with 20 fire engines and a 50-strong force of fire-fighters on foot, while more reinforcements were arriving constantly.

The Katechaki ring road was closed to traffic from Pindos Street and from the Kessariani junction on the other side, where traffic was being diverted, while traffic was forbidden to go up Ethnikis Antistaseos Road. The ring road was handed over to circulation around 19:00.

Brigade forces are still in the area trying to extingusih the remaining small fires.

Relevant authorities are investigating into the causes of the blaze not excluding the possibility of arson.

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