Wildfire in Albania injures three people, forces evacuation of 2,000

A wildfire injured three people and forced the evacuation of about 2,000 residents near the southern Albanian town of Delvina on Friday. "Three people have sustained burns and suffered asphyxiation," Delvina Deputy Mayor Brunilda Meleqi told Reuters by phone.

Six villages were evacuated, and a church and 10 uninhabited houses were destroyed by the blaze, she said. The fire's intensity eased in the evening after two helicopters were deployed to assist firefighting efforts.

The Defence Ministry said around 60 soldiers had been dispatched to help contain the fire. Greece and the wider Balkans sweltered under the third heatwave of the summer this week, with laborers barred from work, tourists kept away from the ruins, and firefighters battling blazes scattered across the arid countryside.

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