Greek firefighters are battling wildfires on the eastern outskirts of Athens, and more fires in the southern Peloponnese peninsula which have forced villagers to flee.
The fire outside Athens spread quickly on a hillside and blanketed parts of the city in thick smoke.
Crews fought to keep the flames away from nearby residential areas.
Separately, several villages were evacuated in the Peloponnese as wildfires burned through rural land.
The flames, near the town of Monemvassia, forced one fire-fighting aircraft to make an emergency landing, according to reports.
“It’s hellish right now, there are hundreds of pockets of fire,” Iraklis Trichilis, mayor of the town of Monemvassia, earlier told Skai television.
The blaze outside the capital, fanned by strong winds, burned through woodland on Mount Hymettus, forcing some residents to flee their homes, Kathimerini newspaper said.
Although forest fires are not unusual in Greece, local media say these are bigger than in recent years.
More than 150 homes have been destroyed by a huge forest fire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso.
Thousands of people are being evacuated from Valparaiso to escape the flames, which have been fanned by strong winds coming in from the Pacific.
Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet put the army in charge of the evacuation after declaring the city, 70 miles west of capital Santiago, a catastrophe zone.
There are no reported deaths but many are suffering from smoke inhalation.
More than 150 homes have been destroyed by a huge forest fire in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso
Large parts of Valparaiso are without electricity.
Valparaiso’s mayor, Jorge Castro, told Chile’s National Television that refuges have been set up for the thousands of residents that have been forced to flee the fire.
“Valparaiso is without electricity at the moment and this means the flame column is creating a Dante-esque panorama and is advancing in an apparently uncontrollable manner,” Jorge Castro said.
The battle to contain the blaze has been hampered by strong Pacific coast winds that have pushed the fire deeper into Valparaiso’s neighborhoods.
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