Greek firefighters backed by aircraft battled a blaze spreading outside Athens for a second day on Wednesday, one of hundreds ravaging a country where wildfires have already killed 20 people this week, writes Reuters.

Several hundreds have fled their homes nationwide since fires erupted in northern Greece on Saturday, fanned by heat and high winds in the summer’s second major outbreak.

Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said 355 wildfires had erupted since Friday, including 209 in the last 48 hours. Firefighting teams were making “superhuman efforts” to contain them, he said. The fire brigade warned that more fires could break out, and spokesman Ioannis Artopios said conditions remained “difficult, and in several cases extreme”.

About 20 km north of Athens, more than 200 firefighters backed by volunteers - alongside 65 vehicles and 15 aircraft, some sent from Sweden and Germany - battled a blaze that began early on Tuesday near Fyli, a village in the foothills of Mount Parnitha and spread towards the town of Menidi. The capital has been smothered in smoke and ash since the blaze broke out on Tuesday.

By Wednesday, about 150 people were evacuated by bus from three nursing homes in Menidi to hotels or other care facilities. Police ordered other residents to leave as a fire-fighting helicopter clattered overhead, dropping water on the flames. A volunteer carried an icon of the Virgin Mary out of a burning monastery, its yard blackened and covered in ash, while police officers rushed to remove large gas canisters from the premises.

About 700 migrants held at the nearby facility of Amygdaleza were evacuated to another camp, a migration ministry official said. The fire has left a trail of destruction, burning homes and cars in Fyli and forcing residents to flee on foot, some covering their faces with their clothes because of the smoke. Volunteers loaded sheep in the trunks of cars to save them.