School engulfed by uncontrollable forest fire tearing through Athens

A school on the fringes of the Greek capital of Athens was engulfed in flames only a few hours after people were evacuated from the area.

Footage shows the building in the northeastern suburb of Nea Penteli on fire, withplumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

A TV crew reporting at the scene can be seen pulling pulling back from the site as the flames continue to rage.

What started as a forest fire on Sunday is now creeping closer and closer to the city – moving ‘like lighting’ – forcing the evacuations of thousands of people.

Two women who were rescued during a wildfire in Varnavas, north of Athens (Picture: AFP)

A children’s hospital, a military hospital, two monasteries and a children’s home were evacuated earlier today, while more than two dozen emergency push alerts were sent to mobile phones in the area.

Several homes were burnt, although the exact number was not immediately clear.

It is the worst to have happened in the area of Athens this summer, with mayor of the town of Marathon, Stergios Tsirkas, describing it as a ‘biblical catastrophe’.

More evacuation orders were issued for the suburbs of Athens as flames continue unabated.

Authorities were faced with ‘an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours under dramatic circumstances’, climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said.

The fire was burning mainly on two separate fronts, with some parts in particularly difficult to reach areas on a mountain north east of Athens.

The fire department said 670 firefighters, backed by 27 teams specially trained to tackle wildfires and including more than 80 armed forces personnel, were battling the flames.

More than 190 vehicles were deployed, while 17 water-dropping planes and 16 helicopters were providing aerial support.

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