Greece asks for EU help in battling wildfires
The fires broke out nearly a week into a heatwave, in which temperatures have passed 45C.
Strong winds were fanning the blaze near Athens and other sites and the Peloponnese peninsula that juts out west of the capital, fire brigade spokesman Vasileios Vathrakogiannis said.
They were also feeding the flames on the islands of Crete, Euboea and Kythera, he added. "The hard part is ahead of us," he told reporters.
Several regions were under the highest level of alert — Red Category 5 — meaning an extreme risk of wildfires, due to the hot and dry conditions.
Firefighters had brought 44 fires under control out of 52 that had broken out over the past 24 hours, said the brigade spokesman.
Greece had requested European assistance through the RescEU mechanism, asking for six firefighting aircrafts to bolster efforts to contain the fires, he added.
Firefighting units from the Czech Republic were already operating as part of European assistance.
One of the most difficult fronts was just 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Athens, where authorities ordered the evacuation of a village, Drosopigi, said firefighters.
Several houses in Drosopigi were ablaze, as the strong winds pushed the flames through the buildings.
One front of the fire had reached Kryoneri, another village farther north, where houses were also burning.
Police said they had evacuated at least 27 people from their houses.
Five people were taken to hospital. A fireman with burns, three people suffering breathing difficulties and an old woman who appeared to have suffered a stroke.
The smell of the burning wood carried as far as the centre of Athens.
Another wildfire, on the island of Kythera, trapped dozens of people on a beach who had to be rescued by a coastguard vessel and three private boats.
The fire there was burning trees planted after an earlier devastating fire in 2017.
The heatwave, which started in Greece last Monday, was expected to last until the coming Monday, the country's weather service said.
The National Observatory in Athens said the warmest temperature recorded Friday was 45.8C in the Peloponnese region of Messinia. On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2C in Amfilohia, in western Greece.
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