Hundreds of residents were forced to flee homes Sunday as wildfires were continuing for a third day in northeastern areas of Athens.

A man is silhouetted in front of a forest fire in Grammatiko village northeast of Athens August 22, 2009. A large wildfire raged out of control on the outskirts of Athens on Saturday, burning several homes and thousands of acres of forest. [Xinhua]

Authorities said they were evacuating the suburb of Agios Stefanos, 23 kilometers northeast of Athens, as flames reached residential communities there.

In Northern Attica, two children's hospitals were evacuated following the order of the General Secretariat of Civil Protection.

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis flew in Sunday morning by helicopter to the disaster areas. He urged the people to follow authorities' instructions and keep calm.

The prime minister assured that authorities are taking effective measures to deal with the tough challenge.

To put down the wildfires, some 130 fire engines, 390 firefighters, and 52 water trucks were mobilized in the region of northern Attica, the authority said.

The armed forces have sent 450 soldiers, eight aircraft, 29 vehicles, nine ambulances to support the firefighters.

Government officials said that at the request of the Greek government, aircraft and helicopters from Italy, France and Cyprus were expected to come to help with the operation.

According to latest information from the Civil Protection agency, wildfires were continuing in the areas of Marathon, Drafi, Ano, Kato Souli, Pikermi, Old Penteli, Agios Stefanos, Dionysus and Pallini, and already came within 20 kilometers of downtown Athens, making Greek Authorities to declare a state of emergency in greater Athens.

"More than 120,000 stremmas (30,000 acres) have been burnt. It is an ecological disaster," Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros told NET TV channel.

This is the most destructive wildfires in Greece since a series of wildfires claimed 77 lives in the country in 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2009)