Thousands flee as wildfires bear down on Greek capital

Halandri became the latest suburban municipality to order a partial evacuation of areas threatened by the flames.

Thousands of people fled their homes around Athens on Monday (Aug 12), including in the historic town of Marathon, as strong winds fanned a wall of wildfire flames closer to the Greek capital.

A 30km long frontline of fires, more than 25m high in places, was moving towards Athens, the ERT public broadcaster reported.

Nearly 700 firefighters and over 30 aircraft battled the blazes that had advanced into the city's outer suburbs near Mount Pentelikon.

Authorities opened the Olympic stadium in northern Athens and other stadiums to house those fleeing. Three major hospitals have been placed on standby.

One firefighter suffered serious burns, another was hospitalised with breathing trouble and 13 other people were treated for milder respiratory problems, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.

Halandri became the latest suburban municipality to order a partial evacuation of areas threatened by the flames.

"Because of the direction of the wind we have decided on a precautionary evacuation," its mayor Simos Roussos told ERT. "The fire is very close."

Television footage showed flames burning among homes in Nea Penteli, a leafy Athens suburb which also told residents to relocate.

Several smaller communities and towns, including Marathon, which gave the Olympic long-distance race its name, started to evacuate on Sunday.

"We are facing a biblical catastrophe," said Marathon's mayor Stergios Tsirkas. "Our whole town is engulfed in flames," he told the Skai television channel.