Greece declares state of emergency due to massive forest fires

The fire Evros region necessitated the evacuation of two villages and destroyed thousands of hectares of forest, but there were no reports of casualties, officials said. The television showed pictures of the people of Koil and Melia , who were evacuated and where Rescue forces with heavy fighting against the flames. Two aircraft for extinguishing fires, which were sent by France and Greece arrived today, were attending the Greek authorities to contain the fire while it was also planned arrival Two other aircraft from Spain and Portugal and Italy reinforcements. Strong winds fanned the flames and hampered the firefighting on eight fronts in Evros.

According to firefighters across Greece started 104 fires since Thursday night. Civil Defense said on the eve of a state of emergency in the region. Six major fires are still out of control and officials fear spread over the next few days due to high winds are forecast and temperatures. The region of the city port of Alexandroupolis is one of the most affected.

The fire hit several areas around difficult terrain. The Greek Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou, visited the headquarters of the Fire and Civil Defence in Athens to get an idea of the situation, his office said. "There is dense columns of smoke over the city" , said by telephone a doctor Hospital of Alexandroupolis. The authorities advised the elderly and the sick stay at home. "The situation is extremely dangerous," said the regional governor, Aris Giannakidis on television. Also in Glyfada, a suburb of Athens, there were pockets of fire. The first flames could be controlled in the Thursday night before they reached the first houses in the villages.

Authorities said they could also control another fire in northern Athens. More fires were reported in the west, near the city of Agrinion and the island of Zakynthos and the interior of the Peloponnese peninsula. The flames also reached the ruins of Kalydon in the west, according to the Ministry of Culture. Archaeologists do not yet know if there was damage.