'Superhuman effort' Greece counts the cost after wildfires around Athens are put out

Greek authorities are continuing to battle fires outside Athens as officials take stock of the damage wreaked by a disaster that forced mass evacuations and killed at least one person.

- Helena Smith

Yesterday, the third day of one of the worst wildfires in living memory, firefighters were helped by a drop in winds as they sought to contain remnants of an inferno that reached the city's northern suburbs and ruined homes and businesses.

"Forty hours after this extremely dangerous wildfire broke out we can now say that there is no active front, only scattered hotspots," said Greece's climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias.

More than 700 firefighters, backed by water-bombing planes, forest commando units, the police, army, forest service employees and volunteers, had helped put out the blazes.

"[They] fought the fire in northeastern Attica with superhuman effort," Kikilias added. "We're not talking about a simple fire that simply got out of control. We are talking about the most difficult and most dangerous scenario."