August 25, 2007	Saturday	Sha’aban 11, 1428

ATHENS, Aug 24: At least 16 people died and thousands of acres (hectares) of forest were consumed in fires racing through Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula on Friday as southeast Europe experienced a resurgence of summer blazes.

Six bodies were found near the town of Areopolis, 190 km southwest of Athens, including two French tourists and two firefighters, the fire brigade and police said.

Authorities were evacuating the town and nearby villages.

Ten more people were found dead near Zakharo, on the west coast of the peninsula, at least six of them in cars, a fire brigade official said.

“I can see our houses burning. We’re searching for people who might be trapped in their homes but there are no firefighters here, we need help,” a local resident told Greek television. “We have no hope, they’ve abandoned us to God.”

Dozens of other Greek villages asked for help, from the west coast of the Peloponnese to the region of Mani, 80 km further east, as the fires were spread by strong winds. Aircraft and helicopters were being deployed against the flames.

The government announced a state of emergency in Lakonia and Messinia provinces and asked for help from the European Union. “This message has been sent and we await the responses,” Acting Interior Minister Spyros Flogaitis told reporters.

The mayor of Zakharo, Pantazis Chronopoulos, told reporters:

“The situation is extremely dire ... The speed with which this

fire has been spreading is astonishing.”

A combination of soaring temperatures, hot winds, drought and arson in southern Europe has caused a new upsurge in forest fires after tens of thousands of acres of land were scorched in an even more intense heatwave last month.

Greece, where the temperature has hit 41 Celsius this week, has this year seen some of its worst fires in a decade, some reaching the outskirts of Athens and destroying much of the nearby Mount Parnitha nature reserve.

In Italy, where blazes are spreading across many southern areas, an 83-year-old man died near the southern city of Potenza on Friday. Police said he was probably trying to put out a fire.—AFP