Greece wildfire declared largest ever recorded in EU

Eleven planes and a helicopter from the bloc have been sent to help Greece counter the fire

A forest blaze in Greece is the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU" and the bloc is mobilising nearly half its firefighting air wing to tackle it, a European Commission spokesperson has said.

Eleven planes and one helicopter from the EU fleet have been sent to help Greece counter the fire north of the city of Alexandroupoli, along with 407 firefighters, Balazs Ujvari said on Tuesday.