Fires rage across Greece; Blazes 'in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence': prime minister

Fires pushed by gale-force winds tore through more parchedforests, swallowed villages and scorched the edges of Athens onSaturday with ashes raining onto the Acropolis. The death toll roseto at least 49 as the government declared a nationwide state ofemergency.

Soldiers and military helicopters reinforced firefighting forcesthat were stretched to the limit by Greece's worst summer ofwildfires in decades. In the most ravaged area -- a string ofmountain villages in southern Greece -- rescue crews picked througha grim aftermath that spoke of last-minute desperation as the firesclosed in.

Dozens of charred bodies were found across fields, homes, alongroads and in cars, including the remains of a mother hugging herfour children.

Fresh fires broke out across the country -- including some blamedon arson. The worst infernos were concentrated in the mountains ofsouthern Greece and on the island of Evia north of Athens. Anotherfire broke out in the area of Kalyvia, between the capital and theancient site of Sounion to the south. Power and water supplies weredisrupted in many areas.

In southern Greece, a front of fire was approaching villages justoutside Ancient Olympia and the town of Pyrgos early today.Residents called TV stations to issue desperate appeals for help.

"We're going to burn alive here," one woman told Greek televisionfrom the village of Lambeti. She said residents were using gardenhoses in a desperate attempt to save their homes.

Church bells rang out in the village of Kolyri near AncientOlympia as panicked residents tried to gather their belongings andflee, said one man who called the TV station.

'I FEEL ANGER'

Senior Health Ministry official Panagiotis Efstathiou said thebodies of 49 people who died because of the fires had been taken tohospitals. The fire department said it could confirm 47 deaths.There were fears the toll could increase as rescue crews searchedburned areas.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said arson was suspected in someof the blazes.

"So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts ofthe country cannot be a coincidence," Karamanlis said in anationally televised address. "The state will do everything it canto find those responsible and punish them."

A 65-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson andmultiple counts of homicide in a fire that killed six people inAreopolis, a town in the southern Peloponnese, said fire departmentspokesman Nikos Diamandis. Separately, two youths were arrested onsuspicion of arson in the northern Greek city of Kavala, he said.Their parents were also to face charges, he said.

"I feel deep grief for our dead," Karamanlis said in his address."I feel deep pain for the mother who perished in the flames with herarms round her children. I feel anger -- the same that you feel."