Moment arsonist is caught by drone starting wildfires in Italy
Moment a motorbike-riding arsonist is caught starting wildfires in Italy… before he realises he is being filmed and starts hurling rocks at drone
- Officials in Calabria, southern Italy caught an arsonist red-handed with a drone
- Wildfires are raging across southern Italy and have reached Athens in Greece
This is the moment a motorbike-riding arsonist was caught red-handed by a drone starting wildfires in Italy – before he realised he was being filmed and began to hurl rocks at it.
Around 30 drones have been employed by officials in Calabria, southern Italy, as part of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards those starting wildfires.
The fires have raged across Europe in recent weeks as flames tore through areas of Greece and Italy amid a sharp spike in temperatures.
However, authorities believe some of the fires may have been started on purpose.
Calabrian drone operators noticed smoke coming from the bushes in the countryside in Curinga, before they spotted a man walking along a dirt track.
This is the moment a motorbike-riding arsonist was caught red-handed by a drone starting wildfires in Italy
A video posted to social media on Monday by Calabrian governor Roberto Occhiuto showed the man parking his red motorbike before lighting fires.
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Once he noticed he was being filmed, he began to hurl stones at the drone in an attempt to take it out.
He fled the scene on a motorbike but was followed by the drone, and was eventually reported to Italian police.
Mr Occhiuto said in the video: ‘Calabria is a civilised region but it also has some imbeciles who go to set fires in the woods, like this arsonist we caught yesterday.
‘Where does he come from, the caves?’
He added that the region has 30 drones it can employ to detect potential arsonists, stating that it will take a ‘zero tolerance policy’ towards any intentional fire starters.
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani also shared the footage on Twitter, saying: ‘Only with an accurate control of the territory can these criminals be stopped.’
Areas of southern Europe such as Greece and Italy have been fighting extreme heat and wildfires.
Calabrian drone operators noticed smoke coming from the bushes in the countryside in Curinga
Once he noticed he was being filmed, the suspect began to hurl stones at the drone
He then attempted to escape on his motorbike but the drone followed him and he was reported to Italian police
Calabrian governor Roberto Occhiuto (pictured) shared the footage on social media and condemned those who have been starting the fires on purpose
In Italy, firefighters battled brush fires in the southern mainland regions of Calabria and Puglia, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, helped by temperatures dropping some 13 degrees Celsius (55 F) into the low- and mid-30s C (high 80s F).
Sicily remained the focal point, with fires continuing to burn near the capital Palermo as seven aircraft were engaged to douse flames.
Footage from the country’s roads showed scenes of people driving to safety down fire-flanked roads.
Sicily has requested emergency measures from the central government to battle wildfires
The island has been devastated by wildfires that have killed three elderly people, its regional president said today.
In a message on Facebook, Sicilian President Renato Schifani said ‘scorching heat and unprecedented devastating fires’ had turned Tuesday into ‘one of the most difficult days in decades’.
Italian firefighters said they battled nearly 1,400 fires between Sunday and Tuesday, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria, the southern mainland region where a bedridden 98-year-old man was killed as fire consumed his home.
Sicily is a major tourist destination but a fire inside a terminal building last week caused the near-total closure of its biggest airport in Catania on the east of the island. Palermo airport was also closed for a few hours on Tuesday because of a wildfire nearby.
Residents look at flames burning in Capaci, near Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, July 26
A man tries to extinguish a wildfire in the Sicilian village of Altofonte, near Palermo, Sicily
Italian civil protection personnel burn out fires in Capaci, near Palermo in Sicily
Flames are seen on the side of a road through the window of a vehicle driving in Sicily
Wildfires have now reached the outskirts of Athens on Thursday as strong gusts of wind caused flare-ups around Greece, disrupting highway traffic and rail services.
The fires have raged across parts of the country during three successive Mediterranean heat waves over two weeks, leaving five people dead, including two firefighting pilots, and triggering a huge evacuation of tourists over the weekend on the island of Rhodes.
Water-dropping helicopters and a ground crew scrambled early Thursday to a blaze in Kifissia, just north of Athens, which was quickly put out.
Near the central city of Volos, a wildfire burned on two fronts, forcing a section of Greece’s busiest highway to close for several hours, while national rail services passing through the area were delayed.
Greek firefighters also battled flames on Rhodes for a 10th successive day, while flare-ups were reported on the island of Evia.
A European Union disaster response agency announced that it was sending two more firefighting planes, provided by France, to Greece.
But as Southern Europe fights extreme heat and wildfires, parts of central Europe have been hit with winter conditions. Subfreezing temperatures, frost and snow have been reported in the Tatra mountains, which run through Poland and Slovakia.
‘Without doubt, we can see that all across the Mediterranean the climate crisis is here and it’s affecting us all more strongly than perhaps even scientists had warned us about,’ Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Thursday during a meeting with the country’s president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
An aerial view of houses among burned land, as a wildfire burns on the island of Rhodes
Greece has been struggling with forest fires that could not be controlled for 10 days
Flames engulf a hillside on Thursday in Apollana, Rhodes as flamed continue to spread
An air Tractor AT-802A drops water onto flames on a hillside in Apollana
The aftermath of the fire: A burned area after a fire near Kiotari
A man walks amid rising smoke as a wildfire burns in the village of Vati, Rhodes
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