Wildfires in Italy’s Sicily Claim Three Lives
Three elderly people were killed in flames on Sicily, an island in southern Italy, according to the regional president of the area, as intense storms and a heatwave farther north claimed more lives.
The bodies of a couple in their 70s were discovered in their burned-out home outside of Palermo, the provincial capital, according to the Italian media, Reuters reported.
In the province of Palermo, a woman in her late 80s also died after an ambulance could not get to her house due to fires.
Renato Schifani, the president of Sicily, wrote on his social media that Tuesday had been “one of the most difficult days in decades” due to “scorching heat and unprecedented devastating fires.”
Between Sunday and Tuesday, Italian firemen said they put out about 1,400 fires, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria, the southernmost part of the peninsula where a bedridden 98-year-old man died after a fire engulfed his home, according to Reuters.
On Wednesday, fires raged in the hills near Palermo, even though Canadair planes were back in the skies battling the blazes.
On Tuesday, the Mediterranean suffered from a severe summer heatwave that spread devastating fires.
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