A huge forest fire raging unchecked for two days engulfed a village near Athens yesterday, destroying at least 20 homes, and threatened several other holiday communities, police said.
No injuries have been reported in the blaze, which a local mayor has blamed on arsonists.
Flames raced through the village of Anthoussa, about 25 km north-east of Athens at the foot of Mount Pendeli and were close to the outskirts of the coastal resort of Lagonissi.
The fire was also burning a summer camp for disabled children and threatening a state hospital. The children had been evacuated, along with a monastery, as flames leaping 20 metres came dangerously close.
More than 600 firemen have been fighting the blaze, which has destroyed thousands of hectares of pine woods.
No injuries have been reported in the fire, which subsided overnight only to be whipped up again by strong winds yesterday morning, police said. Five firemen were briefly treated for respiratory problems and returned to work.
"It's a total disaster. My home is ruined. My office is ruined. Everything is gone," a desolate Anthoussa resident said on television. The mayor of Anthoussa made a public appeal for help, saying people were in danger.
Television showed residents storming fire engines, imploring them to put out their burning homes. On July 28th an Athens public prosecutor ordered an investigation into allegations that arsonists were setting the fires to make space for construction development and that the state's fire-fighting services were not operating properly.
"It is certainly arson. The fire could not possibly start on its own in thick forest in the middle of the night," Mr Stamatis Kriemadis, mayor of the village of Stamata near the site of the latest fire, said on Monday. He was echoing remarks made by other officials.
The government declared a state of emergency in the northern suburbs of Athens on Monday night and appealed to the public to stay away from the area.