Spectacular images of the explosion of a missile depot of the Greek Air Force devastated by a forest fire

INTERNATIONAL / By Luis Moreno

An ammunition depot in the immediate vicinity of Nea Anchialos, in central Greece, was overtaken on Thursday by the flames of a huge fire, causing heavy explosions and forcing fresh evacuations in the area, Hellenic public broadcaster ERT reported.

Winds had rekindled Wednesday’s declared fire in the region of Magnesia, and the fire reached in the afternoon as far as a Greek Air Force ammunition depot, 6 kilometers north of Nea Anchialos, which housed bombs, missiles and fighter weapons F-16.

The expanding wave propagated hundreds of meters away and shattered the windows of numerous buildings.

Firefighters battling the flames were able to give the alert in time so depot and Army Air personnel at a nearby airport could be evacuated in time.

Local authorities ordered the curfew in a radius of 3 kilometers around the blast site, while urging residents of Nea Anchialos to approach the nearby beach to be evacuated by sea.

They also asked residents of other localities to abandon the area in the direction of the nearby port city of Volos. With seven seaplanes and three helicopters, firefighters battled this morning to control the fire.