Fires 'under control' as Greece counts cost

ATHENS: Forest fires which began tearing through Greece a week ago are under control, firefighters said, as villagers whose homes and land were engulfed by flames began counting the cost.

Firefighters said they had succeeded in limiting the fiercest remaining fires to several areas of the southern Peloponnese peninsula, where most of the 63 victims from this national disaster have lost their lives since August 24.

Blazes in the other main trouble spot, Evia island north of Athens, were reducing in intensity as night fell on Wednesday.

"We are optimistic about the outcome of our fight against the fires," the official fire service spokesman Nikolaos Diamantis said.

Hot winds that have been fanning the flames dropped, but firefighters warned fires could re-kindle if the winds picked up.

As the blazes were gradually extinguished, angry Greeks asked how they had been allowed to wreak such widespread destruction.

The government has blamed arsonists and arrested more than 30 people -- many Greeks believe fires were started in parched forests to clear land for unauthorised construction.

An estimated crowd of 10,000 black-clad demonstrators gathered in the main square of Athens yesterday to vent their anger at what they saw as the authorities' complicity in the disaster.

"Not just the current government but successive governments have neglected the environment and passed laws which have encouraged people to build illegally," said Yiannis Sakellavidis (29), a university researcher who was among the protesters.