Killer forest fires rip through Greece: FIFTY dead including 26 from one villa whose charred bodies were found just 90ft from the sea - as tourists flee to beaches, officials send in the army and US drones hunt 'criminal' firestarters
At least 50 people have been killed including 26 who died fleeing from a seaside villa as deadly forest fires ripped through Greece.
Hundreds of tourists have been evacuated from beaches while three woman and a child drowned in the sea while trying to escape flames rampaging through woodland either side of the capital, Athens.
In an 'extreme situation' fuelled by winds of up to 65mph and 104F (40C) temperatures, the worst Greek forest fires in a decade ripped through communities in a matter of minutes. The youngest victim was a six-month-old baby who died of smoke inhalation.
Holidaymakers fled to the beaches as the flames closed in. But while hundreds were saved, many perished behind walls of smoke and flames after failing to leave their cars or homes in time.
Horrified officials found 26 bodies, apparently families, huddled tightly together in a field less than 100ft from the sea having apparently made a desperate attempt to escape from their villa in the coastal town of Mati, which was left in ruins as the blaze swept through.
In the same village, a popular spot for tourists 25 miles from the capital, pictures show how flames engulfed dozens of cars caught in a traffic jam which formed as people tried to drive to safety. Harrowing images have emerged showing charred bodies in the street while witnesses reported seeing at least four dead on a narrow road clogged with cars.
A mass evacuation is underway with military vessels, a flotilla of private boats and army helicopters mobilised to rescue those who fled to the harbour in Rafina, one of the worst hit areas, while many waited in the sea to be rescued.
Greece has asked for US drones 'to observe and detect any suspicious activity' as it emerged 15 fires had started at the same time in three different areas - possibly by criminals intending to ransack homes once they were abandoned by fleeing residents.
'We are dealing with something completely asymmetric,' Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, looking pale, said after cutting short a visit to Bosnia.
A state of emergency has been declared in western and eastern parts of Attica, the greater Athens area and the Greek government has called on the EU for assistance to battle the devastating wildfires which have left 150 injured.
A hillside of homes was gutted by flames east of Athens. A mayor said he saw at least 100 homes and 200 vehicles burning amid fears the death toll from the disaster will climb today.
Two major fires had broken out at about lunchtime yesterday ripping through childrens' camps and homes either side of the Greek capital.
By 9pm last night, gale-force winds had fanned the flames which ripped through seaside towns sparking a mass evacuation and creating such thick smoke that motorways had to be shut.
Just after midnight, the first deaths were confirmed - only for the toll to escalate rapidly to at least 20 by 3am. By dawn on Tuesday, the fires were still burning around the capital, while others broke out elsewhere during the night.
People scrambled to the sea as the blaze closed in close to the shore - hundreds were rescued by passing boats but others, tragically, found their way blocked by smoke and flames.
'I was briefed by a rescuer that he saw the shocking picture of 26 people tightly huddled in a field some 30 metres from the beach,' Nikos Economopoulos, head of Greece's Red Cross, told Skai TV.
'They had tried to find an escape route but unfortunately these people and their kids didn't make it in time,' he said. A Reuters witness also saw several bodies in the area.
A Reuters photographer saw at least four dead on a narrow road clogged with cars heading to a nearby beach and heard reports of several more casualties.
'Residents and visitors in the area did not escape in time even though they were a few metres from the sea or in their homes,' fire brigade spokeswoman Stavroula Maliri said.
Merchant Marine deputy minister Nektarios Santorinios, whose ministry is in charge of the coastguard, said more than 700 people had been evacuated by sea by the coast guard.
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 on the ground.
'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, some of them clad in only their bathing suits, when they came off coast guard vessels and private boats. The operation continued through the night.
At daybreak Tuesday, Ambulance Service deputy director Miltiadis Mylonas said the number of casualties was likely to rise as the more gutted homes and cars were checked.
'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,' he said. 'The task we face now is organizing the identification of victims by members of their families.'
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. Fleeing drivers clogged highways into the capital, hampering the firefighting effort, and flecks of ash swirled onto central Athens.
Authorities were still trying to evacuate inhabitants from coastal areas, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said early on Tuesday, while searches for further victims continued.
'Fifteen fires had started simultaneously on three different fronts in Athens', he said, prompting Greece to request drones from the United States, 'to observe and detect any suspicious activity'.
Nine coastal patrol boats, two military vessels and 'dozens of private boats' assisted by army helicopters were mobilised to help those stuck in the harbour in Rafina, one of the worst affected areas close to Mati.
Evacuees were transferred to hotels and military camps, while worried relatives flocked to the area.
Police in the town said they found two Danish tourists out of a group of 10 in a boat at sea off the town and were trying to locate the others.
Civil protection chief Yannis Kapakis said he had told Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who cut short a visit to Bosnia to return home, that winds more than 60mph were creating 'an extreme situation'.
Forecasters said conditions would remain challenging on Tuesday, although showers and falling temperatures were expected in Athens.
In the north, more than 300 firefighters, five aircraft and two helicopters were mobilised to tackle the 'extremely difficult' situation, Athens fire chief Achille Tzouvaras said.
The Greek government invoked European Union civil protection agreements to seek help from EU peers, with the country tinder box dry and at risk of more fires. Wildfires have caused widespread damage in Sweden and other northern European nations.
Video footage showed inhabitants fleeing the fires by car, with several buildings and homes damaged, as the region of Attica - which includes Athens - declared a state of emergency.
'If I hadn't left, I'd have been burned,' a 67-year-old resident who gave her name as Maria told AFP.
Near the town of Marathon, several residents fled to safety along the beach, while some 600 children were evacuated from holiday camps in the area.
Tsipras said 'all emergency forces have been mobilised' to battle fires along at least three fronts.
Emergency services were banking on a drop in the wind but the forecast for the region - which has experienced temperatures topping 104 Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) - suggest conditions would remain challenging into Tuesday.
Smoke from the blazes blotted out the sun over the famed Parthenon temple in Athens, where some ministries closed Monday afternoon due to the searing heat.
'I am really concerned by the parallel outbreak of these fires,' Tsipras said, with officials raising the possibility they could have been started deliberately by criminals out to ransack abandoned homes.
Fires are a common problem in Greece during the summer and can be major killers. Fires in 2007 on the southern island of Evia claimed 77 lives.
Also on Monday, Sweden's civil protection agency MSB said there were 27 active fires across the nation, as temperatures were expected to soar as high as 35 Celsius this week.
Other European countries including France, Italy and Germany have sent a mix of planes, trucks and firefighters to help tackle the blazes in Sweden, where usual summer temperatures are closer to 23 Celsius.
Some 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land has already gone up in smoke or continues to burn - an area twice the size of the city of Paris.
At least four of the fires had not been brought under control, MSB said, and weather conditions were unfavourable.
Sweden is experiencing an unprecedented drought and temperatures have reached their highest in a century.
There has been practically no rain since the beginning of May in the Nordic country, aside from a paltry 13 millimetres (half an inch) in mid-June.
The Forestry Bureau said Monday that the value of the destroyed forests was 900 million kronor (87 million euros, $102 million).
Several other northern European countries are also struggling to contain forest fires.
In Finland's northernmost Lapland province, fires have ravaged woods and grassland close to the border with Russia.
Norway, which this year experienced its hottest May temperatures on record, has also seen several small fires, and one firefighter was killed on July 15 trying to contain a blaze.
Fires have raged for five days in Latvia, destroying more than 800 hectares in the Baltic state's western regions