The death toll from twin wildfires that raged through Greek seaside areas looked set to increase to around 50 Tuesday after rescue crews reported finding the bodies of more than 20 people huddled closely together near a beach northeast of the capital, Athens.

Greece sought international help through the European Union as fires on either side of Athens left lines of cars torched, charred farms and forests, and sent hundreds of people racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.

The official death toll stood at 24 early Tuesday. Authorities said that more than 100 people were injured, including 11 in serious condition.

They could not immediately confirm reports of many more deaths, but rescue crews working through the charred areas where the fire had passed through to the northeast of Athens told local media that at first light, they had found the bodies of more than 20 people gathered in one place near a beach.

The head of Greece’s Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, told Skai television a member of a Red Cross rescue team had told him the crew had found 26 bodies, apparently families, huddled tightly together, many of them hugging.

Merchant Marine deputy minister Nektarios Santorinios, whose ministry is in charge of the coast guard, said more than 700 people had been evacuated by sea by the coast guard.

Winds reached 80 kph (50 mph) as authorities deployed 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.

It was the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade. More than 60 people were killed in 2007 when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

“It’s a difficult night for Greece,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after cutting short a trip to Bosnia and returning to Athens.

Authorities said Cyprus and Spain offered assistance after the request for EU help was made.

Greek Fire Service officials issued public pleas for residents in fire-affected areas to comply with evacuation orders and not stay on in an effort to save their homes.

Rafina’s mayor said he believed about 100 houses in that area had burned. The fire service was not able to confirm the figure.

Showers that passed over the Greek capital Monday missed the two big fires — one at Rafina, 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the east, and the other at Kineta, 55 kilometers (35 miles) to the west. Heavy rain is forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday.

Forest fires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers, and temperatures recently hit highs up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.</s>THE SPANISH government has sent two water-carrying planes to help in the efforts to extinguish the devastating wildfires in Greece.

The death toll currently stands at 74 and 180 injured as the wildfires tore through Kineta and the port of Rafina near the Greek capital Athens

The Vatican sent a telegram of condolences saying the pope was "deeply saddened" to learn of the death and destruction "and extends his heartfelt solidarity to all those affected by this tragedy."

Turkey, Croatia and Italy have each also offered two aircraft too.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared three days of national mourning for those killed in the wildfires.

"Today Greece is mourning, and in memory of those who were lost, we are declaring a three-day period of mourning," Tsipras said.

"But we mustn't let mourning overwhelm us, because these hours are hours of battle, unity, courage and above all solidarity."</s>ATHENS (CNN) - At least 50 people have died in the worst wildfires to hit Greece in more than a decade, with some residents forced to flee into the sea to escape the advancing flames.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared three days of national mourning.

Residents told of horrifying scenes as flames engulfed a seaside village, where the only way out for some was to run for the water.

Boats were mobilized in a hurriedly-organized rescue operation as the flames took hold on Monday night. Reuters reported that 696 people were picked up from beaches and 19 from the sea. Rescuers retrieved four bodies from the sea.

More than 150 people have been injured in the blazes, which are burning in three main fronts in the Attica region, including one that is currently out of control near the seaside resort village of Mati. The area is popular with Greek tourists, in particular pensioners and children who go to holiday camps there.

So far 715 people have been evacuated, mainly from the area of Mati, according to government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos.

The fires are the deadliest to have hit the country since blazes that burned through the southern Peloponnese in August 2007, killing dozens.

"Attica is facing a very difficult night. The combination of intense winds and multiple parallel fronts has created an unprecedented extent and difficulty for firefighters," Tzanakopoulos said in a briefing late Monday.

The Attica region, which has a population of around 3.5 million people, is home to the capital Athens, the port of Piraeus and a number of suburban towns.

The fires forced Prime Minster Tsipras to fly back early from a state visit to Bosnia. He has urged citizens to forget their property and focus on survival.

"Everyone should keep their temper and take care to protect the most precious good that is human life," he said.

"Property, all that has a material value, (can be) recreated. Human lives are the ones that cannot come back."

Mati resident Nana Laganou told journalists that she had escaped by running into the sea, that the fire was "lightning fast" and that it was the first time she'd encountered something like this.

"I would have liked to see some (reaction) from the state, but we didn't and we won't and that makes me angry."

Another Mati resident, Kostas Laganos, said that he had also escaped the flames by diving into the ocean. "Thankfully the sea was there and we went into the sea, because the flames were chasing us all the way to the water, it burned our backs and we dove into the water," he said.

"It reminded me of the eruption (of Vesuvius in 79 AD) at Pompeii, exactly that, and I said my God, we must run to save ourselves, and nothing else. Terrible."

So far Spain and Cyprus have offered assistance, and Greece has called on other fellow members of the European Union to help battle the blaze.

Various governments, including the US and the Netherlands, offered sympathy to the beleaguered region.

Much of Europe has been baking under a massive high-pressure ridge that is allowing tropical heat to climb all the way to the Arctic.

Temperatures above 32C (90F) extended to the northern reaches of Scandinavia, setting records in Sweden, Finland and Norway for stations above the Arctic Circle.

The result has been a string of unprecedented wildfires in Sweden that have prompted the country to request assistance from other nations such as Italy, with more resources to fight wildfires.

Copyright 2018 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>RAFINA, Greece (AP) — The death toll from twin wildfires that raged through Greek seaside areas looked set to increase to around 50 Tuesday after rescue crews reported finding the bodies of more than 20 people huddled closely together near a beach northeast of the capital, Athens.

Greece sought international help through the European Union as fires on either side of Athens left lines of cars torched, charred farms and forests, and sent hundreds of people racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.

The official death toll stood at 24 early Tuesday. Authorities said that more than 100 people were injured, including 11 in serious condition.

They could not immediately confirm reports of many more deaths, but rescue crews working through the charred areas where the fire had passed through to the northeast of Athens told local media that at first light, they had found the bodies of more than 20 people gathered in one place near a beach.

The head of Greece's Red Cross, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, told Skai television a member of a Red Cross rescue team had told him the crew had found 26 bodies, apparently families, huddled tightly together, many of them hugging.

Merchant Marine deputy minister Nektarios Santorinios, whose ministry is in charge of the coast guard, said more than 700 people had been evacuated by sea by the coast guard.

Winds reached 80 kph (50 mph) as authorities deployed 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.

It was the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade. More than 60 people were killed in 2007 when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

"It's a difficult night for Greece," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after cutting short a trip to Bosnia and returning to Athens.

Authorities said Cyprus and Spain offered assistance after the request for EU help was made.

Greek Fire Service officials issued public pleas for residents in fire-affected areas to comply with evacuation orders and not stay on in an effort to save their homes.

Rafina's mayor said he believed about 100 houses in that area had burned. The fire service was not able to confirm the figure.

Showers that passed over the Greek capital Monday missed the two big fires — one at Rafina, 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the east, and the other at Kineta, 55 kilometers (35 miles) to the west. Heavy rain is forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday.

Forest fires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers, and temperatures recently hit highs up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.</s>Wildfires have been ravaging Greece tourist hotspots of Athens, Mati and Kineta forcing Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to declare a state of emergency. Eerie footage captured from a Norwegian Airline flight landing in Athens shows smaller towns surrounding the capital ablaze with smaller fires. Large clouds of smoke can also be seen cloaking the area as the wildfire rage on. Greece's Red Cross organisation reported 26 people were found dead in a villa in the coastal town of Mati, 29km from Athens, raising the death toll from the inferno to 49.

Fires first broke on Monday near Kineta and continued to burn through the night, forcing authorities to issue an evacuation order for visitors and residents. Fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri told The National Herald that 156 adults and 16 children have been treated for injuries caused by the wildfires. Ms Malliri added that strong winds fuelled the flames and had the fire begin to encroach on residential areas, blocking residents and visitors from fleeing their homes. Militiadis Mylonas, deputy director of the Ambulance Service, said authorities are expecting the death toll to increase in the coming hours. Mr Mylonas said: "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." Mr Mylonas added: "The task we face now is organising the identification of victims by members of their families." Greece has called on the EU for assistance and said Cyprus offered firefighters to help them battle the blazes and Spain offered to contribute aircrafts capable of dropping water on the flames. Prime Minister Tsipras cut short an official trip to Bosnia in order to coordinate the response. He said more than 600 firefighters and 300 vehicles are working to extinguish the wildfires.</s>Wildfires flanking Athens have killed at least 49 people in Greece and injured more than 150. The fires are the worst the country has seen in a decade, the BBC reports.

The Attica Region of Greece, which includes the capital of Athens, is home to more than 3.8 million people. It’s peak tourism season in Greece, where the sector accounts for $16.2 billion annually, 8% of GDP.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared a state of emergency, mobilizing firefighters and military to stop the fires. Italy, Germany, Poland and France have sent planes, vehicles and firefighters to help.

The death toll jumped Tuesday morning after the Red Cross discovered 26 bodies on the lawn of a seaside villa in Mati. Rescue crews have picked up at least 700 tourists from beaches.

CNN reports that some residents in seaside villages had only one way to escape the raging flames: to flee toward the water.

AFP quoted officials who suspect that arson by house looters might have triggered the blazes. In 2007, 84 were killed by forest fires in Greece triggered by high temperatures and arson.

The U.S. Embassy in Athens issued the following travel advisory:

Fueled by record high temperatures, wildfires are wreaking havoc around the world this summer, with 27 active fires in Sweden killing at least one person.</s>At least 50 people are feared dead in wildfires burning in the Attica region around Athens, in Greece’s worst fire crisis in more than a decade, the BBC reports.

According to the Red Cross, 26 bodies were found in the yard of a villa in the seaside village of Mati, which is at the centre of the disaster.

Before news of the grim discovery, the official death toll stood at 24.

As part of a huge rescue effort, emergency workers used boats and helicopters to evacuate a beach.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blazes and the authorities are seeking international assistance.</s>Greece is under threat from huge wildfires, which are threatening the lives of both local residents and tourists. Already the seaside town of Mati has been devastated by the quickly moving flames and emergency services have been called to look for missing persons. The Rafina region, where Mati is located, is a known tourist hotspot, especially for young families and the elderly. Hundreds of emergency firefighters have been called to tackle the fires, which now threaten to spread beyond the small village.

How did the Greek fires start? The exact cause of the wildfires is not yet determined, but dry and scorching hot weather in Greece is likely responsible. Wind speeds of up to 50mph are also to blame for pushing the inferno through the local environment. Greek authorities are still determining whether suspicious activity could be to blame, however, and have employed a drone to scan the area.

How many people have died in the Greece wildfires? It has been confirmed that at least 74 people have now died as a result of the wildfires, wth many more missing. Rescuers working in the area came upon a devastating scene where 26 people were huddled together as they died in the fires just metres from the sea. More than 150 people are also thought to have been injured in the blaze, and there are fears for eight missing tourists.

Most of those affected by the blaze are local holidaymakers or nearby residents who became trapped and some British tourists are also thought to be in danger. The Foreign Office has advised that anyone trapped the area of the blaze should contact the British Embassy in Athens. While many authorities are urging caution, flights to Athens have apparently not been affected. This is not the first time Greece has been ravaged by devastating fires, as 11 years ago in 2007 extremely hot conditions caused a surge in forest and wildfires.</s>Athens, July 24 (IANS) At least 50 people have died and 156 have been injured in forest fires raging near Athens, the Greek Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday.

Emergency services said that 11 of the injured were in a critical condition, while warning that the casualty toll was expected to rise as authorities continued to receive reports of missing people, Efe news reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos had put the death toll at 20 and said most of the victims were trapped in the seaside resort of Mati, 40km from here.

They died either in their homes or their cars while trying to escape after the fires began on Monday. There were 16 children among the casualties, the BBC reported.

Hundreds of firefighters were battling the blazes as people left their homes behind near the capital. Authorities urged people in the path of the flames to get out while they can.

A spokesman for the EKAV emergency service told radio station 24/7 that the dead included a 15-year-old girl and at least 11 of the injured were listed in critical condition at hospitals in the Attica region.

Greece declared a state of emergency and appealed to its European Union partners for assistance in dealing with the fires, Efe news reported.

In eastern Attica, some people on a beach threatened by the flames dived into the water. The coast guards told EFE that while 15 people were rescued, eight Danish tourists were reported to be adrift on a boat.

A search and rescue operation is underway for them.

“We will do whatever is humanly possible to control it,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told reporters.

He cut short an official trip to Bosnia in order to help coordinate the response to the situation, which firefighters have described as “extremely difficult”.

Dramatic video posted on social media showed damaged buildings, orange smoke-filled skies, and people fleeing the fires by car.

Citing police, ERT television said that some 300 residents of several villages in east Attica were trapped in their homes by the fires.

Tsipras assured that “all emergency forces have been mobilised” and declared a state of emergency in the Attica region around Athens.

The government also asked other European countries for helicopters and additional firefighters to help tackle the fires, the BBC said.

Earlier on Monday, residents of a coastal region near Athens were told to abandon their homes as the uncontrolled fires spread. Hundreds of children were also evacuated from holiday camps.

Countries including Italy, Germany, Poland and France have all sent help in the form of additional planes, vehicles and firefighters.

But with temperatures set to soar again, they are in a race against time to get the fires under control.</s>At least 24 people have been killed and more than 100 injured by wildfires in Greece.

At least 24 people have been killed and more than 100 injured by wildfires in Greece.

At least 24 killed and more than 100 injured in Greece wildfires

The deadliest blazes to hit the country in more than a decade have seen wildfires fanned by high winds rage through holiday resorts near Athens.

Of at least 104 people injured by the conflagrations 69 needed hospital treatment and 11 were in a serious condition, officials said.

There are concerns the death toll will rise further still after four more victims, a child and three women, were found in the sea near the blazes, bringing the number of dead to 24.

Greece has sought international help through the EU as the fires on either side of Athens left lines of cars torched, charred farms and forests, and sent hundreds of people racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.

Winds reached 50mph as authorities deployed 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 below.

"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 when they came off coast guard vessels and private boats.

The operation continued through the night.

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.

It has been the deadliest fire season to hit Greece in more than a decade.

More than 60 people were killed in 2007 when huge fires swept across the southern Peloponnese region.

"It's a difficult night for Greece," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after flying back to Athens from a trip to Bosnia that was cut short.

Authorities said Cyprus and Spain offered assistance after the request for EU help was made.

Greek Fire Service officials issued public pleas for residents in fire-affected areas to comply with evacuation orders and not stay on in an effort trying to save their homes.

Rafina's mayor said he believed about 100 houses in that area had burned. The fire service was not able to confirm the figure.

Showers that passed over the Greek capital Monday missed the two big fires - one at Rafina, 18 miles to the east, and the other at Kineta, 35 miles to the west.

Heavy rain is forecast across southern Greece on Wednesday.

Read more here: Residents flee as two major forest fires rage near Athens
The death toll from the wildfires in Greece rises to 80 people while many others are still missing.