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Forest Fire Near Athens Brought Under Control |
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| GREECE: June 26, 2008 | ||
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ATHENS - Fire swept through a forest outside Athens on Wednesday, causing power cuts that trapped dozens of people in elevators before it was brought under control, officials said.
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At least 45 fire engines, more than 200 firefighters, three helicopters and nine planes battled the blaze, which destroyed about 20,000 square metres (215,300 sq ft) of pine forest about 20 km (12 miles) southeast of the Greek capital. "The fire is now under control," a police official who declined to be identified told Reuters. "We will now carry out an investigation to find out how it started." Rescue services were called in to extricate dozens of people from elevators after power lines near the blaze were automatically shut down. Coastal suburbs had no power for several hours and supplies to central Athens were also affected. Last year, Greece suffered some of the worst forest fires in memory, caused by record high temperatures, drought and arson. At least 65 people were killed in a 10-day inferno that swept through villages in southern Greece, devastating the local economy. (Reporting by George Hatzidakis, additional reporting by Tatiana Fragou and Renee Maltezou; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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