Wildfires destroy parts of Southeast Europe
July 19, 2017
Firefighters in Croatia and Montenegro have been struggling to contain wildfires that have erupted along the Adriatic coast at the height of the tourism season.
In Montenegro, strong winds hampered efforts to battle the flames along the coast and near the capital, Podgorica, until they were finally brought under control. Montenegro had earlier requested help from NATO, which it just joined in June, to tackle the fires.
Meanwhile Croatian firefighters also managed to prevent a blaze engulfing the city of Split, declaring that they had managed to "defend" the Adriatic resort. As the fires broke out in 20 separate locations in just a few hours, Croatian media started speculating that they might have been caused by arsonists.
Wildfires were also witnessed in parts of Italy, as temperatures remained around 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) with the prospect 40-degree heat by the weekend.
Ealier in the summer, large parts of Portugal were also affected by wildfires.