ATHENS—Greece's worst forest fires in decades have killed 41 people in the past 24 hours and more are feared dead in villages still cut off by flames sweeping parts of the Peloponnese peninsula, officials said on Saturday.
Six bodies were found near the town of Areopolis, 190 km (120 miles) southwest of Athens, including two French tourists and two firefighters, the fire brigade and police said. Authorities were evacuating the town and nearby villages.
Ten more people were found dead near Zakharo, on the west coast of the peninsula, at least six of them in cars, a fire brigade official said.
"I can see our houses burning. We're searching for people who might be trapped in their homes but there are no firefighters here, we need help," a local resident told Greek television. "We have no hope, they've abandoned us to God."
Dozens of other Greek villages asked for help, from the west coast of the Peloponnese to the region of Mani, 80 km (50 miles) further east, as the fires were spread by strong winds. Aircraft and helicopters were being deployed against the flames.
The government announced a state of emergency in Lakonia and Messinia provinces and asked for help from the European Union.
"This message has been sent and we await the responses," Acting Interior Minister Spyros Flogaitis told reporters.
The mayor of Zakharo, Pantazis Chronopoulos, told reporters: "The situation is extremely dire ... The speed with which this fire has been spreading is astonishing."
A combination of soaring temperatures, hot winds, drought and arson in southern Europe has caused a new upsurge in forest fires after tens of thousands of acres of land were scorched in an even more intense heatwave last month.
Greece, where the temperature has hit 41 Celsius (106 F) this week, has this year seen some of its worst fires in a decade, some reaching the outskirts of Athens and destroying much of the nearby Mount Parnitha nature reserve.
Italy's Civil Protection Authority said Thursday had been the worst day for forest fires in Italian history.
Eight people have died from fires in Italy over the past month, including three at a guest house in Sicily on Wednesday, and blazes are spreading across many southern areas.
In southeastern Bosnia, where the temperature has hit 42 Celsius (108 F) this week, firefighters and villagers were battling several forest fires fanned by strong winds.
Even in Portugal, which like neighbouring Spain has been spared the worst of the fires because of an unusually cool, damp summer in western Europe, 300 firefighters had to be mobilised on Thursday to put out a blaze near the historic town of Sintra.
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