The Greek fire service has discovered eighteen bodies in a forested region of northern Greece that has been ravaged by wildfires for the past four days.
Initial reports indicate that the deceased could have been migrants. A coroner and an investigation team are en route to the crime site near the forest of Dadia.
Fires have ravaged the Evros region of northeastern Greece, not far from the Turkish frontier.
In the metropolis of Alexandroupolis, a hospital had to be evacuated. Newborn infants and patients in intensive care were among those transferred to a vessel at the port.
Fires are spreading across multiple fronts in Greece, fanned by high winds and temperatures that topped 40 degrees Celsius in several locations on Tuesday.
Since Monday, it is believed that flames have spread swiftly in the large, forested Dadia national park to the north of Alexandroupolis.
The emergency services sent text messages to the neighboring areas urging residents to evacuate. Prior to the most recent tragic discovery, a fatality believed to be that of a migrant was reported in the area.
According to reports, the fire department discovered 18 additional bodies near a hut outside the village of Avantas on Tuesday while inspecting the charred remains of a building.
The possibility that the victims entered Greece illegally is being investigated, according to Yiannis Artopios, a spokesman for the Greek fire department. There have been no reports of missing Greek citizens.
According to unconfirmed reports, the bodies were discovered in two groups, and there were concerns that the death toll could rise. The fire department stated that investigations were ongoing in the entire area where the fire had spread.
The Evros region has become one of the most popular routes for Syrian and Asian migrants to cross from Turkey into the European Union via the Evros River.
The Dadia forest is also recognized as a migration corridor. Yiannis Artopios emphasized that emergency alerts had been sent to all mobile phones in the vicinity, including those belonging to foreign networks.
Alarm Phone, a migrant assistance organization, reported that it had been in contact with additional migrants who required rescue from the fires.
It was reported that nine individuals had already crossed the frontier, while 250 others were stranded on two small islands in the River Evros.
The residents of eight adjacent villages were instructed to seek refuge in the city during the night. As vegetation along the coast burned on Tuesday night, a steady stream of vehicles could be seen heading there.
Monday's maximum temperature in the Drôme region of southeast France was 42.4 degrees Celsius, but the record pertains to the daily average temperature of 26.63 degrees Celsius recorded at 30 weather stations across France.
In Switzerland, the "zero-degree isotherm" - the height at which temperatures fall below the freezing limit - has reached an all-time high. MeteoSwiss reported that the limit has been raised to 5,298 meters (17,388 feet).
The point is rising consistently, primarily due to human-caused global warming, according to the Swiss met office. Since the 1970s, the rise in height of the zero-degree isotherm has accelerated, particularly in spring and summer.
