Children, patients and elderly evacuated from areas at risk from ongoing fires

A fireman suffering from respiratory complaints was also rushed to an Attica hospital.

Authorities later decided to fully evacuate 28 children and staff at a 'Smile of the Child' charity home based in Kareas, due to the smoke and choking atmosphere caused by the fire. The children have all been taken to another house run by the volunteer-run charity in Peristeri.

"We had to evacuate the house, due to the smoke. Also, these children have experienced difficult circumstances in their lives and fear management is exceptionally demanding," the charity's president Costas Giannopoulos told ANA-MPA.

He said that mobile units and the organisation's rescue team remained in the area in case their help was needed.

Meanwhile, in Neapoli, Lakonia where another major fire threatening houses was burning fiercely, authorities evacuated an old people's home and transferred the elderly residents to the town's health centre. The nearby health centres of Molai and Sparti, as well as the Sparti hospital have been put on standby to help with emergency cases.