Firefighters are still battling the forest fires raging in the suburbs north-east of the Greek capital Athens. Around 500 Greek firefighters, assisted by their counterparts from France, Italy, Austria Cyprus and Turkey, are working to douse the flames threatening Athens.

The fire started in Grammatiko, near Marathon, site of the historic battle in 490 CE, on Friday and spread to several suburbs north-east of Athens. According to a fire services spokesperson, "the fires are continuing but with less intensity than in the previous days".

Apart from threatening thousands of homes, the fires have threatened some of Greece's most important historic sites, including the fortress of Rhamnous and the Pantokrator Monastery, which was founded in the mid-14th century. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land and olive groves have been destroyed, as well as dozens of houses.

The prefect of Athens says the fires are "an ecological catastrophe on an indescribable scale". Apart from causing massive pollution, a huge numbers of the trees that provided oxygen for smog-ridden Athens have been destroyed. The Greek authorities have evacuated thousands of people from homes, hospitals, camping sites and retirement homes.

These are the worst forest fires in Greece since 2007, when 77 people died. So far there have been no reports of deaths from this year's fires.

Photo by ANP