GREECE: Fires kill at least fifty one people

European Union firefighters and planes joined the battle on Sunday (August 26) against the fires raging in Greece for three days, killing 51 people and threatening areas near ancient Olympia, historic site of the first Olympic games. Greece declared a state of emergency on Saturday as towering walls of flame cut a swathe of destruction through the southern Peloponnese peninsula and across other areas of the country. The fires have bathed Athens in white ash, forced thousands to flee their villages and burned about 500 homes and thousands of acres of forest and farmland. Fire brigades on Sunday began evacuating villages near ancient Olympia as strong winds pushed the flames towards the historic site near the Peloponnese's western Ionian coast. About 90 firefighters and soldiers were trying to stop the flames from reaching the site, which installed a well organised fire protection system for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ancient Olympia boasts ruins of the stadium and pagan temples that hosted the ancient games for centuries from 776 BC and is the site of an Olympic flame ceremony every two years. Fire brigades, stretched to their limit by scores of blazes, threw reinforcements from Greece's European Union partners into action to fight blazes stretching over 160 km (100 miles) across the Peloponnese, the island of Evia and near Athens. Two French and one Italian fire-fighting plane dropped water on burning hillsides south of the capital and 60 firefighters from Cyprus joined the fray. More help was expected on Sunday and Monday from at least 11 countries. Church bells tolled as villagers struggled to save their homes in areas stretching from the Peloponnese to Evia, northeast of Athens. Residents used garden hoses and buckets to try to try to dampen the blazes. The worst forest fires in decades broke out on Friday and have since erupted on scores of fronts around the country, prompting Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to blame arsonists. About 9,000 firefighters, helped by 500 soldiers, 1,800 fire engines, planes and helicopters have been engaged in fighting the fires. Some exhausted fire fighters arrived in villages to be greeted by residents angry at the delayed help. The fire department said several children were among the dead, including a mother found still clutching her children. More people were feared dead as many villages remained cut off.

ITN Source | August 26, 2007

Tags:. .olympics. .villagers. .historic. .began. .worst