The Greek government has declared a state of emergency for the entire country after raging forest fires killed at least 46 people in the southern Peloponnese region.
The total number of dead rose steadily throughout the day and the fire department confirmed by 6.30pm local time that 46 bodies had been found. It is feared that more people have been killed or injured.
A number of villages have been cut off by the flames in the worst such fires in decades. The authorities believe some of the fires were started deliberately.
"All regions of the country are declared in a state of emergency in order to mobilise all means and forces to face this disaster," Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis said in an address to the nation.
Scores of fires have swept through the Peloponnese and other regions since Friday, trapping hundreds in villages. Greece has asked its European Union partners for help.
"So many fire fronts in so many locations in the country can't be a coincidence," Mr Karamanlis said. "The state will do its utmost to find the culprits and punish them. No one has the right to take human lives and destroy the environment ... to destroy our country."
The prime minister, who faces a parliamentary election on September 16th, announced relief measures for the affected areas.
"I feel deep pain for the dead, for the mother who perished in the flames, with her children in her arms," he said.
Rescuers said they found bodies on the side of the road, in burnt homes and cars, and a mother still clutching her child. Two French tourists were reported to be among the dead.
A state of emergency was declared in the provinces of Lakonia, Messinia and Ilia - where electricity and phones were largely cut off.
Greece's fire brigade said it was battling 87 forest fires throughout the country.
"As of this moment, we have 87 active fire fronts," said fire department spokesman Ioannis Stamoulis. "We have big fires in western Greece, the Peloponnese, the island of Evia and the Attica (Athens) region."
Forest fires have swept through the Peloponnese peninsula since Friday, trapping people in villages before they could be evacuated.
The fires that broke out near Athens forced the evacuation of a monastery and several homes and closing the main highway linking the capital and its international airport.
"The motorway has been shut down," said a fire department spokesman. "Two firefighting planes, one helicopter and 20 fire engines are combating the fire."
Dozens of villages in the Peloponnese have been evacuated but several remain cut off by the surrounding flames, with the fires stretching some 160 km from the Ionian Sea in the west to Mani in the peninsula's southern region.
Politicians interrupted campaigning for the national elections in September to rush to the area.
Mr Karamanlis told reporters after he witnessed the devastation: "We are living a national tragedy".
Desperate residents and local mayors called television and radio stations to appeal for help from overstretched firefighters.
"I can hear the flames outside my door. There is no water anywhere, there is no help. We are alone," a resident from the village of Adritsaina told a Greek TV station by mobile phone.
Authorities said 500 soldiers were sent to help. At least 16 firefighting planes and nine helicopters were combating the flames but strong winds grounded several others.
Soaring temperatures, hot winds, drought and arson have been blamed for the upsurge in forest fires this summer.
A total of 170 fires broke out on Thursday and Friday alone, while at least 124 fires were raging across Greece on Saturday
The conservative government of Greece has seen its popularity drop after criticism for its slow reaction in dealing with a spate of forest fires that killed 10 people earlier this summer.
PA