Greece wildfires: woman charged with unintentional arson after cigarette allegedly started blaze on Chios

Greek island has been battling several wildfires that broke out at the same time on Sunday and have so far ripped through an estimated 40,000 hectares

A Georgian woman accused of accidentally igniting one of several wildfires that have raged relentlessly across the eastern Aegean isle of Chios will appear in court to face charges of unintentional arson.

Greek fire brigade officials said the woman, employed as a housekeeper on Chios, the ancestral home of some of Greece's wealthiest shipping families, had confessed" to triggering the blaze when she negligently discarded a cigarette.