[Anchor]

Europe, suffering from heatwaves and droughts, continues to battle relentless massive wildfires. Three people have died in Greece and Spain, and a wildfire that started in Belgium has spread extensively, threatening neighboring Germany across the border.

Reporting by Gwak Sang-eun.

[Reporter]

Red flames consuming forests have encroached upon residential areas.

Houses, vehicles, and streetlights were instantly reduced to ashes.

Fueled by strong winds, a massive wildfire spread rapidly on the island of Salamis near Athens, Greece.

[Maria Papaeleftheriou / Resident of Salamis Island, Greece : There are no firebreaks, no clear evacuation routes. There were no preventive measures.]

Two bodies, presumed to be a married couple, were found on the southern coast, and some 570 vacationers and residents trapped on the beach had to board coast guard rescue vessels for an emergency evacuation by sea.

In the northeastern Spanish region of Aragon, a soldier assisting in wildfire-fighting operations lost his life.

French reinforcement troops were also urgently deployed to the area to block flames heading toward a 1,000-year-old monastery.

A wildfire that broke out in eastern Belgium on the 14th has been spreading for days, threatening even the German border.

The damaged area alone is equivalent to 4,200 football fields, marking Belgium's largest disaster on record.

Some 250 police officers, soldiers, and firefighters from Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg worked through the night to extinguish the flames, and nearby farmers who heard the news even rushed over to lend a hand.

[Louis Clemens / German Farmer : I drove an hour and a half from Germany. I'm going to fill my car with water now and head to the forest.]

Authorities in Monschau, Germany, adjacent to Belgium, have issued evacuation advisories for residents.

In Europe, which has been plagued by heatwaves and droughts this summer, the risk of wildfires shows no sign of subsiding in various places as the heat dome phenomenon trapping hot air persists.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yul)