Maritsa

A collision between two heavy goods vehicles early this morning has closed the "Maritsa" highway in the direction of Turkey. The incident occurred at kilometer 103 of the highway, near Svilengrad, around 4:00 a.m., according to the Traffic Police in Haskovo.

The Minister of Immigration and Asylum spoke about the increasing trend of migration flows, cooperation with Turkey on migration and the return of migrants on SKAI television.

In the wake of Germany's decision to reintroduce controls at its external borders, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) is updating its plan for the protection of the land borders between Greece and Turkey on the Evros River. 

A tragic incident occurred when a 9-year-old boy drowned in the Maritsa River, with his body being recovered today following a rescue operation, BNT reports. On the previous day, the child had been among six boys who went swimming in an area of the river without supervision.

After a relative lull in recent years, migratory flows in 2024 have already increased significantly in the first months of 2024, mainly through the Evros border region in northeastern Greece, but also the Greek islands.

According to data from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, in the first quarter of 2024, these represent the highest migration flows since 2019.

The historic Bayezid II and Yalnızgöz bridges in the northwestern province of Edirne are now illuminated by a newly installed solar energy system, paving the way for a broader initiative that will see 12 other historic bridges over Tunca and Meriç rivers in the city similarly adorned.

The Greek government and authorities have been very successful in fighting "illegal migration" by creating "an extremely secure land border" with a sturdy fence that was built very quickly to act as a deterrent, British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said on a visit to the Evros border region.

In his lab in Alexandroupoli, northeastern Greece, coroner Pavlos Pavlidis has been receiving the bodies of migrants for two decades. Their remains are often trapped at the bottom of the Evros River for months. However, on August 22, he was called to a scorched hillside near the village of Avantas.

In an often acrimonious mood, party leaders debated about the wildfire in Evros in Parliament on Thursday, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noting that although the preparation was better than any other year, "we are faced with new facts." 

Eighteen people died in the village of Avantas in Evros, northeastern Greece, where fires raged on Tuesday for a fourth straight day, along with dozens of new blazes.

The victims, which included two children, are believed to be migrants who apparently had not been informed of the fire's progress.