Wildfire rages near Athens for second day, forcing more evacuations

Hundreds of firefighters struggled overnight to contain a wildfire on the outskirts of Athens, forcing more evacuations as authorities warned the risk of new blazes was high across the country on Wednesday.

Twenty people have been killed since fires erupted in northern Greece on Saturday and quickly spread, fanned by gale force winds in the second major outbreak of the summer.

A fire near the village of Fyli on the foothills of Mount Parnitha, some 25 km (15 miles) north of Athens, spread towards the town of Menidi, where about 150 people had to be evacuated from three nursing homes, a local official said.

"We kept the fire away from homes," Stathis Topalidis, deputy mayor of Menidi, told state broadcaster ERT on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately the wind isn't helping at all."

He said the elderly were evacuated on busses to hotels or other care...