Huge wildfires near to the Greek capital Athens have devastated the region with dozens of lives lost as well as destroying cars and homes
GREECE declared a state of emergency after two major wildfires burnt out of control either side of Athens.
Authorities have been battling to bring the fires under control and the government has asked other European countries for help supplying helicopters and additional firefighters.
A combination of a dry winter and a hot summer where temperatures have risen above 40C are said to have created tinderbox conditions.
Powerful, hot winds spread the flames, forcing hundreds from their homes.
Citizens' Protection Minister Nikos Toskas suggested arsonists caused the some of the fires.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras cut short his visit to neighbouring Bosnia and returned to the capital.
He said his government would do "whatever is humanly possible to control" the fires.
The Greek authorities advised people to “just leave” their homes, saying it was “an extreme situation”.
Mr Tsipras has come in for heavy criticism for his government failing to do more to prevent and stop the fires sooner.
The PM has said he accepts "full poltical responsibility" for the disaster.
The first fire broke out in a pine forest near the seaside settlement of Kineta, 30 miles west of Athens between the capital and Corinth.
The holiday resort of Mati in the Rafina region, 18 miles north east of Athens, was devastated by a blaze that started at about 5pm local time on Monday.
Giorgos Mathiopoulos, the head of Greece's emergency workers association, told reporters that one fire broke out around noon and the second around 5pm.
The wildfires are the worst to hit Greece since 2007, when dozens of people were killed in the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
At least 88 people have been killed so far with over 150 injured - eight are said to be missing.
One of the youngest victims was thought to be a six-month-old baby who died of smoke inhalation.
The coastguard said the bodies of four people were retrieved from the sea.
The Red Cross said early on Tuesday that 26 bodies had been found outside a villa in the seaside village of Mati.
Greece's coast guard said a search-and-rescue operation was underway for the 10 people, believed to be foreign tourists, who fled a massive forest fire in a boat and were missing.
A coast guard helicopter and vessel were searching the sea near the town of Rafina, north east of the Greek capital of Athens.
The fires have also destroyed scores of homes and caused the main motorway west of Athens to Corinth to be closed.
