The locals told horrifying scenes as the flames engulfed a seaside village. Some escaped only while running into the sea, chased by the advancing fire.
More than 100 people were injured in burning flames on three major fronts in the Attica region, including one that is currently out of control near the seaside resort of Mati.
The fires near Athens, the capital, is the deadliest in the country since those that ravaged the southern Peloponnese in August 2007, killing dozens of people. "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," government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said Sunday. A house burns during a forest fire in Kineta, near Athens "data-src-mini =" // cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180724101002-greece-wildfires-1-small-169 .jpg "data-src-xsmall =" // cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180724101002-greece-wildfires-1-medium-plus-169.jpg "data-src-small =" http: / /doc.cnn.com greece-wildfires-1-exlarge-169.jpg "data-src-large =" // cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180724101002-greece-wildfires-1-super-169.jpg "data-src -full16x9 = "// cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180724101002-greece-wildfires-1-full-169.jpg" data-src-mini1x1 = "// cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam /assets/180724101002-greece-wildfires-1-small-11.jpg "data-demand-load =" not-loaded "data-eq-pts =" mini: 0, xsmall: 221, small: 308, medium: 461 , large: 781 "src =" data: image / gif; base64, R0lGODlhEAAJAJEAAAAAAP /////// wAAACH5BAEAAAIALAAAAAAQAAkAAAIKlI + py + 0Po5yUFQA7 "/>
The region of Attica, which has a population of about 3.5 million people, is Athens, the port of Piraeus and several suburban towns.
The fires forced Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to return early from a state visit to Bosnia. He urged citizens to forget their belongings and focus on survival.
"Everyone should keep his cool and take care to protect the most precious good that is human life," he said.
"Property, anything that has material value, (can be) recreated, human lives are those that can not come back."
Nana Laganou, a resident of Mati, told reporters that she had escaped and that the fire was "dazzling" and the "first time" that she had encountered something like it.
"I would have liked to see a reaction from the state, but we have not done it and we will not do it and it makes me angry."
Another Mati resident, Kostas Laganos said that he also escaped the flames by diving into the ocean. "Fortunately, the sea was there and we went to the sea, because the flames chased us to the water, it burned our backs and we plunged into the water", he said.
"That reminded me of the eruption (from Vesuvius in 79 AD) to Pompeii, exactly that, and I said my God, we have to run for us save, and nothing else, Terrible. "
Cyprus offered help, and Greece asked other members of the EU to help fight the fire.
Various governments, including the United States and the Netherlands, have offered sympathy to the besieged region.
Much of Europe bakes under a huge ridge of high pressure that allows the tropical heat to rise to the Arctic.
Temperatures above 32˚C (90˚F) extend to northern Scandinavia, setting records in Sweden, Finland and Norway for stations above the Arctic Circle.
The result was a series of unprecedented forest fires in Sweden that pushed the country to seek help from other countries such as Italy. resources to fight forest fires
The summer of extreme temperatures continues, at the rate of climate change
Elinda Labropoulou, reported from Athens. Euan McKirdy wrote from Hong Kong. Chris Liakos contributed to this report.
