Athens, July 24 (IANS) At least 50 people have died and 156 have been injured in forest fires raging near Athens, the Greek Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday.

Emergency services said that 11 of the injured were in a critical condition, while warning that the casualty toll was expected to rise as authorities continued to receive reports of missing people, Efe news reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos had put the death toll at 20 and said most of the victims were trapped in the seaside resort of Mati, 40km from here.

They died either in their homes or their cars while trying to escape after the fires began on Monday. There were 16 children among the casualties, the BBC reported.

Hundreds of firefighters were battling the blazes as people left their homes behind near the capital. Authorities urged people in the path of the flames to get out while they can.

A spokesman for the EKAV emergency service told radio station 24/7 that the dead included a 15-year-old girl and at least 11 of the injured were listed in critical condition at hospitals in the Attica region.

Greece declared a state of emergency and appealed to its European Union partners for assistance in dealing with the fires, Efe news reported.

In eastern Attica, some people on a beach threatened by the flames dived into the water. The coast guards told EFE that while 15 people were rescued, eight Danish tourists were reported to be adrift on a boat.

A search and rescue operation is underway for them.

“We will do whatever is humanly possible to control it,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told reporters.

He cut short an official trip to Bosnia in order to help coordinate the response to the situation, which firefighters have described as “extremely difficult”.

Dramatic video posted on social media showed damaged buildings, orange smoke-filled skies, and people fleeing the fires by car.

Citing police, ERT television said that some 300 residents of several villages in east Attica were trapped in their homes by the fires.

Tsipras assured that “all emergency forces have been mobilised” and declared a state of emergency in the Attica region around Athens.

The government also asked other European countries for helicopters and additional firefighters to help tackle the fires, the BBC said.

Earlier on Monday, residents of a coastal region near Athens were told to abandon their homes as the uncontrolled fires spread. Hundreds of children were also evacuated from holiday camps.

Countries including Italy, Germany, Poland and France have all sent help in the form of additional planes, vehicles and firefighters.

But with temperatures set to soar again, they are in a race against time to get the fires under control. </s> ATHENS (CNN) - At least 50 people have died in the worst wildfires to hit Greece in more than a decade, with some residents forced to flee into the sea to escape the advancing flames.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared three days of national mourning.

Residents told of horrifying scenes as flames engulfed a seaside village, where the only way out for some was to run for the water.

Boats were mobilized in a hurriedly-organized rescue operation as the flames took hold on Monday night. Reuters reported that 696 people were picked up from beaches and 19 from the sea. Rescuers retrieved four bodies from the sea.

More than 150 people have been injured in the blazes, which are burning in three main fronts in the Attica region, including one that is currently out of control near the seaside resort village of Mati. The area is popular with Greek tourists, in particular pensioners and children who go to holiday camps there.

So far 715 people have been evacuated, mainly from the area of Mati, according to government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos.

The fires are the deadliest to have hit the country since blazes that burned through the southern Peloponnese in August 2007, killing dozens.

"Attica is facing a very difficult night. The combination of intense winds and multiple parallel fronts has created an unprecedented extent and difficulty for firefighters," Tzanakopoulos said in a briefing late Monday.

The Attica region, which has a population of around 3.5 million people, is home to the capital Athens, the port of Piraeus and a number of suburban towns.

The fires forced Prime Minster Tsipras to fly back early from a state visit to Bosnia. He has urged citizens to forget their property and focus on survival.

"Everyone should keep their temper and take care to protect the most precious good that is human life," he said.

"Property, all that has a material value, (can be) recreated. Human lives are the ones that cannot come back."

Mati resident Nana Laganou told journalists that she had escaped by running into the sea, that the fire was "lightning fast" and that it was the first time she'd encountered something like this.

"I would have liked to see some (reaction) from the state, but we didn't and we won't and that makes me angry."

Another Mati resident, Kostas Laganos, said that he had also escaped the flames by diving into the ocean. "Thankfully the sea was there and we went into the sea, because the flames were chasing us all the way to the water, it burned our backs and we dove into the water," he said.

"It reminded me of the eruption (of Vesuvius in 79 AD) at Pompeii, exactly that, and I said my God, we must run to save ourselves, and nothing else. Terrible."

So far Spain and Cyprus have offered assistance, and Greece has called on other fellow members of the European Union to help battle the blaze.

Various governments, including the US and the Netherlands, offered sympathy to the beleaguered region.

Much of Europe has been baking under a massive high-pressure ridge that is allowing tropical heat to climb all the way to the Arctic.

Temperatures above 32C (90F) extended to the northern reaches of Scandinavia, setting records in Sweden, Finland and Norway for stations above the Arctic Circle.

The result has been a string of unprecedented wildfires in Sweden that have prompted the country to request assistance from other nations such as Italy, with more resources to fight wildfires.

Copyright 2018 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> At least 50 people are feared dead in wildfires burning in the Attica region around Athens, in Greece’s worst fire crisis in more than a decade, the BBC reports.

According to the Red Cross, 26 bodies were found in the yard of a villa in the seaside village of Mati, which is at the centre of the disaster.

Before news of the grim discovery, the official death toll stood at 24.

As part of a huge rescue effort, emergency workers used boats and helicopters to evacuate a beach.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blazes and the authorities are seeking international assistance. </s> Wildfires in Greece have killed at least 60 people and left more than 150 injured, with officials declaring a state of emergency.

The bodies of 26 of the dead - many of them huddled together - were discovered in the coastal village of Mati this morning.

Authorities fear they became "trapped in the flames" as they tried to escape to the sea.

The twin forest fires near Athens have sent hundreds of people, including tourists, racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.

Image: Hundreds of homes are being threatened by the fires

Image: People watch the fires burn from a hilltop above Mati

More than 700 people have been rescued by the coastguard.

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Greece's interior minister, Panos Skourletis, has described the fires as a "national tragedy" and a "biblical disaster with human losses".

Image: One of two wildfires raging near Athens started in seaside town Kineta

Strong winds have fanned the flames, which have spread rapidly into residential areas - preventing people who are in their homes or cars from escaping.

Kostas Laganos, who lives in Mati, said scenes in the town reminded him of the volcanic eruption of Pompeii.

Image: A woman tries to find her dog following the wildfire in Mati

Image: Cars have been destroyed in the village where 26 bodies were found

He told Sky News: "Thankfully the sea was there and we went into the sea because the flames were chasing us all the way to the water.

"It burned our backs so we dove into the water.

"It reminded me of the eruption at Pompeii - exactly that - and I said 'my God, we must run to save ourselves and nothing else'. It was terrible."

Here is @CopernicusEU Sentinel-2 satellite image of the deadly fires near Athens that killed dozens. Our thoughts are with victims and families in #Greece 🇬🇷. pic.twitter.com/lLP9emCqJw — WMO | OMM (@WMO) July 24, 2018

Image: The wildfires near Athens have claimed at least 49 lives

Some 156 adults and 16 children have been taken to hospital with injuries, including 11 adults who are in a serious condition.

More than 600 firefighters are involved in fighting the blazes and Greece has asked for help from European Union countries.

Wildfire destruction seen from the sky

The Spanish government has sent two water-dropping planes, while a military plane carrying 60 firefighters is arriving from Cyprus.

Greece's army has also been brought in to help.

Image: Residents of Mati are evacuated by sea

Flights have been diverted because of low visibility and the thick smoke from the fires has led to main motorways being shut down.

One fire is burning northeast of Athens in the Penteli area. The other blaze is raging through pine forests 31 miles (50km) west of Athens after starting in the seaside town of Kineta.

Image: Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blazes

Image: Firefighters, soldiers and local residents carry a hose in Rafina

Evangelos Bournous, mayor of the Rafina-Pikermi area, near Penteli, said he saw "at least 100 homes in flames", adding: "I saw it with my eyes - it is a real total catastrophe."

The state of emergency has been declared by regional authorities.

"This is an extreme situation," said senior firefighter Achilleas Tzouvaras.

Image: Thick smoke can be seen as people try to flee Kineta

Image: Smoke blankets a highway as a fire burns in Kineta

"People should leave - close up their homes and just leave.

"People cannot tolerate so much smoke for so many hours."

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said: "We are doing everything humanly possible to try and tackle these fires."

Having cut short a visit to Bosnia, he added: "What concerns us is that there are fires occurring simultaneously."

The worst fire season in Greece was in 2007, when large sections of forest and farmland were destroyed mainly in the country's south, and more than 60 people were killed. </s> ATHENS, Greece >> Greece’s public order minister resigned today over the deadly forest fire that killed at least 88 people in a seaside area near Athens last week, after spending days defending the way authorities had handled the disaster.

ATHENS, Greece >> Greece’s public order minister resigned today over the deadly forest fire that killed at least 88 people in a seaside area near Athens last week, after spending days defending the way authorities had handled the disaster.

A government statement said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with Nikos Toskas and accepted his resignation.

In a tweet after the meeting, Tsipras thanked Toskas for his “courage” in stepping down. “I warmly thank (him) for the honesty and dedication he displayed during the discharge of his duties,” Tsipras added.

Toskas — and other government officials — came under intense criticism from Greek opposition parties over authorities’ response to the devastating fire at the seaside resort of Mati, and for his assertion in a press conference that, despite considerable soul-searching, he had not discerned any major errors in how the emergency was handled.

Critics focused on the absence of any official evacuation effort for residents before the flames reached Mati, on police allegedly allowing traffic diversions that sent motorists into deadly fire zone, and on an allegedly delayed announcement of the first deaths.

Toskas also initially suggested that arsonists could be to blame for the fire, although later indications suggested negligence by somebody trying to burn garden waste.

Earlier today, the government said authorities will start demolishing dozens of illegal fences and other structures in the wider Athens region next week in a crackdown on structures built without permits.

Greek officials are claiming that such structures were a major contributing factor to the wildfire’s high death toll.

Environment Minister Giorgos Stathakis told Greek radio channel 24/7 that 61 structures, mainly fencing, will be removed at sites on beaches, streams and areas earmarked for reforestation in several regions of Attica.

The Mati blaze was the deadliest in decades, in a hot, dry country where summer wildfires are a constant major hazard.

Hundreds of people fled to beaches, but even there the flames and choking smoke from the wildfire forced many to swim out to sea despite gale-force winds. Many survivors spent hours in the water until they were rescued by the coast guard, fishing boats and other boats. Several drowned.

Coroner Ilias Bogiokas said the wildfire was so hot that “there was almost nothing left” of many of the bodies.

“For the bodies to be in this state, with full carbonization and with parts often turned to ashes … the temperatures must have been very high in a very short period of time,” he told The Associated Press. “Whatever happened, happened in minutes.”

One more woman died today of her wounds from the Mati wildfire, yet 11 days after the fire the exact death toll was still unclear, with figures diverging between coroners and the fire department.

On July 27, coroners announced they had performed autopsies on the remains of 86 people. In addition, one more person died that day in a hospital and another woman died in hospital on today. On July 30, coast guard divers recovered the body of a man from the sea off the coast of the decimated resort area, which would bring the number of dead to 89.

The fire service, however, which has been issuing the official death toll, put the number of dead today at 88, including two unidentified, unclaimed bodies and five people who died in hospitals.

Neither the coroners’ office nor the fire department could explain the discrepancy.

Greek state ERT TV said the woman who died today was the 35-year-old mother of a six-month-old baby that died in the fire and the wife of a fireman who fought the blaze. </s> Wildfires have been ravaging Greece tourist hotspots of Athens, Mati and Kineta forcing Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to declare a state of emergency. Eerie footage captured from a Norwegian Airline flight landing in Athens shows smaller towns surrounding the capital ablaze with smaller fires. Large clouds of smoke can also be seen cloaking the area as the wildfire rage on. Greece's Red Cross organisation reported 26 people were found dead in a villa in the coastal town of Mati, 29km from Athens, raising the death toll from the inferno to 49.

Fires first broke on Monday near Kineta and continued to burn through the night, forcing authorities to issue an evacuation order for visitors and residents. Fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri told The National Herald that 156 adults and 16 children have been treated for injuries caused by the wildfires. Ms Malliri added that strong winds fuelled the flames and had the fire begin to encroach on residential areas, blocking residents and visitors from fleeing their homes. Militiadis Mylonas, deputy director of the Ambulance Service, said authorities are expecting the death toll to increase in the coming hours. Mr Mylonas said: "It took people by surprise and the events happened very fast.

"Also, the fires broke out on many fronts, so all these factors made the situation extremely difficult." Mr Mylonas added: "The task we face now is organising the identification of victims by members of their families." Greece has called on the EU for assistance and said Cyprus offered firefighters to help them battle the blazes and Spain offered to contribute aircrafts capable of dropping water on the flames. Prime Minister Tsipras cut short an official trip to Bosnia in order to coordinate the response. He said more than 600 firefighters and 300 vehicles are working to extinguish the wildfires. </s> Wildfires flanking Athens have killed at least 49 people in Greece and injured more than 150. The fires are the worst the country has seen in a decade, the BBC reports.

The Attica Region of Greece, which includes the capital of Athens, is home to more than 3.8 million people. It’s peak tourism season in Greece, where the sector accounts for $16.2 billion annually, 8% of GDP.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared a state of emergency, mobilizing firefighters and military to stop the fires. Italy, Germany, Poland and France have sent planes, vehicles and firefighters to help.

The death toll jumped Tuesday morning after the Red Cross discovered 26 bodies on the lawn of a seaside villa in Mati. Rescue crews have picked up at least 700 tourists from beaches.

CNN reports that some residents in seaside villages had only one way to escape the raging flames: to flee toward the water.

AFP quoted officials who suspect that arson by house looters might have triggered the blazes. In 2007, 84 were killed by forest fires in Greece triggered by high temperatures and arson.

The U.S. Embassy in Athens issued the following travel advisory:

Fueled by record high temperatures, wildfires are wreaking havoc around the world this summer, with 27 active fires in Sweden killing at least one person. </s> At least 24 people have been killed and more than 100 injured by wildfires in Greece.

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 100 injured by wildfires in Greece.

At least 24 killed and more than 100 injured in Greece wildfires

The deadliest blazes to hit the country in more than a decade have seen wildfires fanned by high winds rage through holiday resorts near Athens.

Of at least 104 people injured by the conflagrations 69 needed hospital treatment and 11 were in a serious condition, officials said.

There are concerns the death toll will rise further still after four more victims, a child and three women, were found in the sea near the blazes, bringing the number of dead to 24.

Greece has sought international help through the EU as the fires on either side of Athens left lines of cars torched, charred farms and forests, and sent hundreds of people racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.

Winds reached 50mph as authorities deployed the country's entire fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters to give vacationers time to escape.

Military drones remained in the air in the high winds to help officials direct more than 600 firefighters below.

"We were unlucky. The wind changed and it came at us with such force that it razed the coastal area in minutes," said Evangelos Bournous, mayor of the port town of Rafina, a sleepy mainland port that serves Greek holiday islands.

The dock area became a makeshift hospital as paramedics checked survivors when they came off coast guard vessels and private boats.

The operation continued through the night.

The fire posed no immediate threat to Greece's famed ancient monuments, but as it raged inland children's' summer camps and holiday homes were hastily abandoned.

It has been the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade.

More than 60 people were killed in 2007 when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

"It's a difficult night for Greece," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after flying back to Athens from a trip to Bosnia that was cut short.

Authorities said Cyprus and Spain offered assistance after the request for EU help was made.

Greek Fire Service officials issued public pleas for residents in fire-affected areas to comply with evacuation orders and not stay on in an effort trying to save their homes.

Rafina's mayor said he believed about 100 houses in that area had burned. The fire service was not able to confirm the figure.

Showers that passed over the Greek capital Monday missed the two big fires - one at Rafina, 18 miles to the east, and the other at Kineta, 35 miles to the west.

Heavy rain is forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday.

Read more here: Residents flee as two major forest fires rage near Athens </s> The Latest on wildfires raging in Greece (all times local):

Officials in Poland say a Polish woman and her son drowned when their boat capsized during evacuation from wildfires in Greece.

Janusz Smigielski, deputy head of the Poznan-based Grecos office, said Tuesday that the two were vacationing in the resort of Mati, east of Athens. He said they drowned during the evacuation of 10 people by boat on Wednesday night, and that he was still waiting for Greek authorities to give details about the accident.

Smigielski said that a further 435 Grecos clients in the Athens region have been moved to hotels in safe areas.

Poland's Foreign Ministry has appealed to Poles in Greece to be very cautious.

Croatia has offered two Canadair aircraft to help Greece battle wildfires that have killed dozens of people near Athens.

Defense Minister Damir Krsticevic said Tuesday Croatia is preparing the planes so they are ready to go to Greece if needed there.

At least 50 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in the wildfires. Croatia has said that none of its citizens are among the victims.

Wildfires also are common in Croatia in dry and windy weather during hot summers along the Adriatic Sea coast.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is offering her country's help to fight the forest fires raging in Greece.

In a message of condolence sent to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday, Merkel said that "in these difficult hours Germany stands firmly by the side of our Greek friends."

She added: "You can be sure of our willingness to provide support in coping with the fire disaster."

Wildfires raging through seaside resorts near Athens have killed at least 50 people.

Italy is offering two Canadair aircraft to help Greece battle wildfires that have killed dozens of people near Athens.

Premier Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday tweeted Italy's support for Greece and condolences for those who have died. He announced Italy was making the two water-dropping aircraft available.

Italy routinely experiences summertime wildfires, particularly in the south. Late Monday firefighters in Sicily brought the latest one under control near Acireale, with the help of two Canadairs.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared three days of national mourning for the dozens killed in the wildfires that swept through seaside areas near Athens. Many people fled to beaches, with some swimming out to sea to escape the choking smoke.

Wildfires raged through seaside resorts near the Greek capital, torching homes, cars and forests and killing at least 50 people, authorities said Tuesday. Twenty-six of the dead were believed to be groups of families or friends who were found huddled together, some of them hugging.

Rescue crews were searching the charred remains of homes and cars in the deadliest of the fires, the one in the Rafina area northeast of Athens, and there were fears the death toll could rise. More than 170 people were treated in hospitals for injuries including burns.

The country's prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, declared three days of national mourning for those killed in the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade.

With the flames whipped up by gale-force winds that frequently changed direction, many tourists and residents fled toward the coastline. Some swam out to sea, braving rough water and strong currents to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke. A flotilla of boats, including some from the coast guard, evacuated more than 700 people by sea from threatened beaches overnight, authorities said.

"It happened very fast. The fire was in the distance, then sparks from the fire reached us. Then the fire was all around us," said resident Nikos Stavrinidis, who had gone with his wife to fix up his summer home for a visit by his daughter.

Stavrinidis, his wife and four friends swam out into the sea to escape the smoke, but they quickly became disoriented, losing sight of the shore and being swept out further by the wind and currents.

Two of the group didn't survive.

"It is terrible to see the person next to you drowning and not being able to help him," Stavrinidis said, his voice breaking. The remaining survivors were picked up by a fishing boat with an Egyptian crew who jumped into the water to rescue them.

Others never made it to the beach.

The head of Greece's Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, told Skai television that a Red Cross rescue team found 26 bodies in a compound northeast of Athens, some of them clutching each other in groups of threes and fours.

"Everything happened in seconds," said Andreaas Passios, who lives next to the compound. "I grabbed a beach towel. It saved my life. I soaked it, grabbed my wife and we ran to the sea."

Passios said he and his wife stayed by the sea for two hours.

"It was unbelievable. Gas canisters were exploding. Burning pine cones were flying everywhere," he said.

When the flames died down, Spyros Hadjiandreou came searching for loved ones.

"My niece and cousin were staying here on holiday. I don't know if they made it out," he said. "I don't know if they are OK. I haven't heard from them."

The death toll stood at 50 by Tuesday morning, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said.

By early afternoon, the Health Ministry's emergency operations said 71 adults continued to be hospitalized, 10 of them in serious condition. Twenty-three children were also being treated for injuries in hospitals, none of them in serious condition.

The two largest wildfires — one 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Athens near Rafina, the other 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital in Kineta — broke out Monday during hot, dry summer conditions. Fanned by gale-force winds, the flames spread rapidly into seaside towns, moving too fast for many who were in their cars or homes to flee, fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said.

"The police tried to direct us away from the fire, but we couldn't escape it," said Aleka Papariga, a former Greek Communist Party leader who lives near Rafina. "We got stuck in traffic and the flames were on top of us. We managed to find a small gap and we made it out."

Evangelos Bournous, the mayor of Rafina, blamed the winds.

"We were unlucky," he said. "The wind changed and it came at us with such force that it razed the coastal area in minutes."

Tzanakopoulos said 715 people were evacuated from beaches and the coastline by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats. The coast guard said 19 people were rescued at sea, some of whom had swum out to escape the flames.

Rafina's dock became a makeshift hospital during the night as paramedics checked survivors, some clad in only their bathing suits, who emerged from coast guard vessels and private boats.

In all, 47 brush and forest fires broke out across Greece on Monday and early Tuesday, with most of them quickly extinguished, the fire department said. Ten were still burning late Tuesday morning, including blazes in Corinth, Crete and in central and northern Greece.

More than 400 firefighters and volunteer firefighters were battling the two fires near Athens, supported by seven water-dropping helicopters and three aircraft.

Greece sought international help through the European Union. Spain was sending two firefighting aircraft while Cyprus was sending in 60 firefighters. Israel and Turkey both also offered assistance.

Heavy rain was forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday, with hopes they could help in the firefighting effort.

Forest fires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers, and temperatures recently reached up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

In 2007, more than 60 people were killed when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

Becatoros reported from Athens. Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.
Wildfires in east and west Attica, Greece, kill at least 76 people, leave another 172 injured, and burn hundreds of houses and vehicles, prompting a state of emergency. The Greek government requests help from European Union countries.