Residents flee as wildfires rage on

The fires have burned houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.

Officials warned that the vast blaze was still threatening inhabited areas on the capital's northern fringes and near Marathon - site of one of history's most famous battlegrounds.

"There are fewer hazardous points," fire brigade spokesman Yiannis Kappakis said. "But the blaze is still developing."

Prime minister Kostas Karamanlis said the fire - one of more than 90 that broke out across Greece over the weekend - was still very hard to tackle.

"The situation remains very difficult," he said after a fire brigade briefing. "The enormous (firefighting) effort will continue on all fronts throughout the night."

Water-dropping aircraft are resuming operations, assisted by aircraft from France, Italy and Cyprus. Nearly 2,000 firefighters and soldiers are engaging the blaze on the ground, together with hundreds of volunteers.

In many afflicted areas, however, despairing residents pleaded for firefighters and equipment that were nowhere to be seen.

Thousands of residents of Athens' northern outskirts evacuated their homes, fleeing in cars or on foot. The fire destroyed several houses as it advanced across an area more than 30 miles in circumference.

Six major fires were burning across Greece. The Athens blaze started north of Marathon plain, and spread over Mount Penteli - on the city's limit to the north - threatening outlying suburbs.