At least 37 people were killed in forest fires in southern Greece in the deadliest wave of blazes ever to hit the country.
At least thirty-one lives were lost in a fire that was still raging today in the southwestern Ilia region, Athens-based fire service spokesman Yiannis Kouskoulis said in a phone interview.
The blaze broke out yesterday afternoon and burned down 18,000 acres of forest, olive groves and brush land in less than nine hours, according to fire service estimates.
Six people died yesterday in a separate fire in Areopolis in the southern region of Laconia.
According to state television channel Net, flames trapped at least two separate groups of people who tried to flee in their cars, including seven children.
"It's a national disaster and the battle continues," Nikolaos Diamantis, another fire service spokesman, said in a news conference today. About 500 soldiers have been mobilized to help put out the flames. An emergency was declared over much of southern Greece and several villages were evacuated.