Three sinking buildings evacuated in east Attica
Three small apartment buildings in eastern Attica have been evacuated as they are gradually swallowed up by receding earth, as a result of wildfires and heavy rainfall, state broadcaster ERT reported on Saturday.
The three buildings are located next to each other on the banks of a stream in Neos Voutzas, a suburb of the port town of Rafina. Neos Voutzas was the epicenter of the deadly 2018 wildfire in eastern Attica that razed hundreds of homes and incinerated thousands of trees.
According to ERT, since losing its tree coverage, the area floods with every big downpour, which has eroded the soil beneath the foundations of the three buildings.
Rafina Mayor Vangelis Bournous told ERT that studies are under way to determine whether the problem is more widespread, while adding that there is evidence to suggest previous authorities had granted building licenses for dozens of plots that had not passed a geological survey.
