An ammunition and weapons depot is hit by fire in central Greece

An ammunition depot near the town of Nea Anchialos, in central Greece, was hit on Thursday by the flames of a large fire, causing loud explosions and forcing new evacuations in the area, the Hellenic public broadcaster ERT reported.

The winds have revived the fire declared on Wednesday in the Magnesia region, and the fire has reached in the afternoon as far as an ammunition depot of the Greek Air Force, 6 kilometers north of Nea Anchialos, where there were bombs, missiles and weapons of F-16 fighters.

The shock wave has spread tens of meters away and broke the windows of numerous buildings.

The firefighters have been able to give the alert in time so that the personnel from the warehouse and the Air Force at a nearby airport could be evacuated in time.

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

They have also asked the inhabitants of several other towns to leave the area in the direction of the nearby port city of Volos.

In the region, at least nine towns had already been evacuated this afternoon.

With seven seaplanes, planes and three helicopters, the firefighters continue to fight on Thursday night to control the fire.

Greece has been suffering for weeks from an extreme heat wave that, with record temperatures that exceeded 46 degrees Celsius, has led to almost 600 fires in recent days.

Although the thermometers have dropped somewhat today, the fight against the fire continues to be difficult due to the strong winds that fan the flames and the great drought that plagues the country.