Fires engulf southern Greece, at least 51 dead

ATHENS: Fires raged unabated on Sunday on the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece where at least 51 people have died in the flames, and officials at the inferno's frontline said the situation remained critical.   

The death toll climbed to 51 after two more charred bodies were found near the town of Megalopoli in central Peloponnese.

Most of the victims of the fire since Friday have been found in the region of Zacharo, to the west of the peninsula, and include seven children, according to police.   

"The situation is still very critical," a spokesman for the firefighers at the front of the battle against the violent blazes said.   

Fires have also erupted on Euboea, the second-largest Greek island, north of Athens, where several seaside resorts have been evacuated.   

In all some 40 villages have been evacuated in the Peloponnese and on Euboea, the spokesman said, adding that "we are ready to organise new evacuations at any time".   

Greece was forced to declare a state of emergency on Saturday as the country began three days of national mourning.   

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a message to the nation on Saturday that action was being was taken "to mobilise all means and all forces" to put out the worst fires in a decade and help those affected.   

He pointed the finger at arsonists for starting the fires in areas hit hard by summer droughts and multiple heatwaves, and said his government would "do everything in its power to find and punish those responsible".   

Firefighters said that 22 fires had started after nightfall on Friday, which Karamanlis said "could not have been a coincidence". Four people were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of deliberately starting the blazes.   

More than 1,000 firefighters backed by 425 soldiers and 16 water-dropping aircraft are waging the battle against the fires, which have swept through thousands of hectares destroying homes and ravaging crops and olive groves. No official figures were yet available.   

"It's chaos. Generations of work have gone up in smoke," said Vassilis Viglas, 65, who had returned to the now devastated village of Artemida for the summer.   

Two fires also threaten the region of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese and Pyrgos, to the north of the Zacharo region, where the flames were approaching villages near the Mount Olympus archeological site.   

Firefighters however were hopeful Sunday of getting some control now that the strong winds which had fanned the flames have subsided somewhat, and aircraft support has arrived from other European countries, officials said.   

Four Canadair water-bombers and some 60 French firefighters were expected to join the operation Sunday as well as an Italian aircraft.   

Firefighting aircraft and some vehicles have been offered by Spain, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Israel, Romania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Serbia and Cyprus.   

Greece's 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.