Scenes of chaos and mayhem have gripped the port city of Alexandroupoli, as wildfires continue to burn out of control and threaten to engulf the University General Hospital.
Firefighters have been battling wildfires for three days in and around the city, which is located close to the north-eastern border with Turkey.
Thirteen communities were evacuated “for the safety of the citizens”, Greece’s fire service said in a statement, as a state of emergency was declared.
Authorities also were forced to hastily move patients out of the city’s University hospital, after a huge wall of flames moved at pace in the direction of the medical facility.
The decision to evacuate the hospital, which has 700 beds, was made by the Deputy Minister of Health Marios Themistokleous and the president of the Greek emergency rescue services (EKAV) Nikos Papaevstathiou.
Both officials travelled to Alexandroupoli on Monday night to assess the growing emergency.
Flames ignited trees in the hospital carpark as staff and firefighters relocated wards full of patients to a ferry.
The evacuation continued throughout Monday night into Tuesday morning, with very few people reported left in the building.
Authorities insist that those still holed up in the hospital are safe and there is no danger to life.
A commander of the fire brigade described the speed of the fire’s advance as “unbelievable”.
Farmers used their tractors in a desperate attempt to build firebreaks to slow the inferno’s unrelenting march towards to the city.
However, their efforts appeared to be in vain as houses and cars went up in flames.
Two army personnel had to be rescued from their vehicle after it went into a ravine.
The extreme hot weather has prompted the government to issue fire risk warnings for several regions in southern Greece, including around Athens.
The capital has seen searing temperatures over summer – this week they will hover close to 40C (104F).
Dozens of fires broke out at the weekend throughout the country, leading to the evacuation of thousands of residents.
At least one person is thought to have died so far as a result of these latest fires.
According to local media, an 80-year-old man collapsed while trying to save his sheep from the flames in the central Boeotia region, north of Athens.
Although summer wildfires are common in Greece, scientists say the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is linked to global warming.
Greece has only just recovered from a major wildfire on the island of Rhodes, that left thousands of tourists in danger.
A spokesperson for the Greek fire service, Ioannis Artophios, said the country is faced with “extreme phenomena” and that everyone needed to “adapt to this difficult situation.”
On Monday, the EU’s Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said the wildfires in Greece in July were far more extreme than those recorded for the same month in 2008 – a year that also saw intense wildfires.
“The burnt area is bigger and the fires are more intense and more violent, burning more area than before,” he said.
