Greece declared a state of emergency Friday near its north-eastern border with Turkey and asked the European Union for help to battle a wildfire that was burning out of control for the third day on Friday. The blaze in the north-eastern region of Evros forced the evacuation of two villages and destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of forest, though there have been no reports of injuries, dpa quoted officials as saying. Four fire-fighting aircraft from France and Spain were scheduled to arrive later in the day. High winds were fanning wildfires and hampering operations to extinguish the blaze on eight fronts. The blaze began on Wednesday and rapidly spread near the villages of Melia and Kila, where residents were evacuated. "The situation is quickly turning into a major catastrophe," said the Mayor of Alexandroupilis Evangelos Lamakis. Hundreds of foreign students at a holiday camp were also evacuated as the fire swept through more than 25,000 hectares of forest and farmland. Four water-bombing planes, two helicopters and 15 firetrucks were involved in the operation to bring the wildfire under control, while authorities were calling in reinforcements from other parts of the region to assist the more than 300 firefighters and soldiers. Dozens of forest fires have broken out in the past 24-hours across the country, including Mesolonghi, central Greece, where officials also called a state of emergency. Other wildfires were reported in the central towns of Ioannina as well as the Ionion island of Zakynthos. Meanwhile firefighters managed to extinguish fires in the residential areas of Parnitha and Glyfada, near the Greek capital Athens.
