41 dead in massive Greek wildfires

ATHENS: At least 41 people have died in two violent fires raging in the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece, officials said on Saturday, warning that the death toll could climb as the search goes on for more victims and fires continue to burn.   

Among the latest fatalities were a mother and her four children, aged five to 15, who were engulfed by flames on the road near the village of Mahista, along with seven other victims, police said. So far seven children have died in the disaster since Friday.  

A third fire was also being battled on the outskirts of Athens, just 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city centre, though no fatalities were reported. Sixty firemen were struggling to contain it before it reached homes.   

The death toll rose as some 170 firefighters and soldiers at dawn began combing the affected areas and discovered some 24 more bodies. About half a dozen villages have also been evacuated and roads closed to traffic.   

"We are in a state of national mourning.... We must do whatever is necessary so this does not happen again," said Greek President Karolos Papoulias, who was expected to visit the region on Saturday.   

The country's Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis held a crisis meeting in Sparta, in the southern Peloponnese, after touring the fire-ravaged area the day before, calling the situation "a national tragedy."   

The charred bodies discovered Saturday were found in "cars, houses and in fields" in the area surrounding the village of Zacharo, in the southwest Peloponnese where 11 fatalities were found Friday, firefighters said.   

"It's a Biblical catastrophe, the sight is horrible. I saw people burnt alive in their cars," Christos Kafiras, the prefect of the department of Ilia, told the private Mega television channel on Friday.   

Six people perished in another fire on Friday on the Mani peninsula, a tourist haven in the southern Peloponnese, including four holidaymakers and a volunteer fireman who suffered a heart attack.   

Some victims may have been in late in fleeing from the flames while trying to save their belongings, government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros said.          

Fires continued to progress in the two southern areas Saturday, but the threat to inhabited areas has shifted to another blaze in the central Peloponnese in the region of Megaloupoli where several villages were evacuated Saturday morning.   

Some 19 planes and 18 helicopters have been deployed to fight the fires, while the army has sent 420 soldiers to reinforce the firefighters and has planes on stand-by if needed for rescue operations.   

A Greek Super League football championship scheduled to have run over the weekend was cancelled because of the 'national tragedy' unfolding, the organisers said.   

Responding to Greece's call for help to the European Union, France said it was sending two water-dropping Canadair planes which were scheduled to land at Elefsis military airport late Saturday afternoon, the French interior ministry said.   

In all, Greece on Saturday was battling 33 fires around the country, including 22 which have ignited since Friday night raising suspicions of possible arson, a fire services spokesman said.   

"We are fighting a battle simultaneously on many fronts, under particularly adverse conditions," said Karamanlis.   

Greece has been battling multiple forest fires since June, fanned by three heatwaves, the latest this week, and months of drought.

Tens of thousands of hectares (acres) have gone up in smoke, making this summer's fires the worst in 10 years.   

Due to the tragic death toll from the fires, the political opposition has refrained from criticising the effectiveness of the government in dealing with the crisis -- even as the country is scheduled to hold legislative elections on September 16.   

Karamanlis called on Greeks to unite in order "to bring an end to the current crisis" and said the state "would do everything to heal the deep wounds" left by the disaster.