Two dead and hundreds evacuated as wildfires break out near Athens

Two people died and and hundreds were evacuated after two fires broke out "almost simultaneously" on a Greek island near Athens on Sunday afternoon, officials said. About 200 firefighters were deployed to keep the twin fires from converging on the island of Salamina, which was under a high wildfire risk on Sunday. The first blaze was reported at 14:40 local time (11:40 GMT) near the island's south coast and spread rapidly due to high winds, followed by a separate fire some 20 minutes later in the east. Their cause is not yet known. One of the fires had been brought under control and evacuations completed by Sunday evening, Greek media report, with 500 people having left the island by sea.

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