Greek PM approves 500 mln euro budget for wildfire relief, reforestation

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday he had approved a supplemental budget of 500 million euros ($587 million) to fund relief and compensation for people who have lost homes and property in wildfires that have hit the country.

"The extent of the destruction blackens our hearts, I apologise for the losses," Mitsotakis said in a televised address, promising his government would stand by all those hurt by the blazes. Firefighters on the ground and from the air were still battling to halt wildfires on the island of Evia, Greece's second largest near Athens, as they threatened to engulf the town of Istiaia in the north of the island.