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Smoke spreads over the Parnitha Mountains during a forest fire north of Athens
Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis / dpa
The fires in Greece are still out of control - even on Friday evening, no all-clear could be given on most of the fire fronts.
North of Athens, the flames rose again as high as a house in the night sky, including in the town of Varybobi, which was evacuated again after it had burned four days ago.
Three other large fires blazed for kilometers in the same region and threatened several suburbs in Athens, the state television reported in the evening and showed pictures of motorcades leaving the towns.
The fire-fighting planes and helicopters had previously tried in vain all day to bring the fires under control despite strong winds.
When it got dark, they had to stop working.
Two dead in northern Athens
The devastating fires have now also claimed the first deaths.
A 38-year-old resident of the city of Ippokrateio, north of Athens, died in hospital after being hit by a falling power pole, according to the Ministry of Health.
Several people came to the hospital with minor burns and smoke inhalation, and five villages were evacuated.
The President of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Konstantinos Michalos, died in the village of Kryoneri.
He was found unconscious in his factory in the immediate vicinity of the fires and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the AFP news agency learned from the hospital.
According to Greek media reports, two volunteer firefighters in critical health were also taken to the hospital.
The situation is also dangerous on Euboea.
The second largest, heavily forested Greek island suffocates under a single cloud of smoke from countless sources of fire.
Again and again new places were evacuated.
Among other things, around 2000 residents left the town of Limni in the northwest of the island.
They were picked up by ferries in the evening because the overland route was cut off by the fire.
There is also no sign of relaxation in the Peloponnese.
Other villages had to be evacuated on Friday afternoon, including the popular tourist town of Gytheion, a picturesque port town near Sparta.
With temperatures between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius, Greece and Turkey are experiencing an extraordinary heat wave.
The Greek civil defense warned residents and vacationers across the country by SMS about the "extreme risk of fire in the coming days".
"If some people are still wondering whether climate change is a reality, they should come here," said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday during a visit to the fire areas.
nek / dpa / AFP