In Athens, too, major fires encroached on the city, and aircraft were called in to help dampen the flames. photo from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6963828.stm
The fires spread rapidly, catching many people unawares
A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Greece, amid a rising death toll from raging forest fires.
Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said the country had to "mobilise all means and forces to face this disaster".
Officials say 47 people have died and many others may be trapped on the Peloponnesian peninsula. Police suspect many fires were started deliberately.
A 65-year-old man has been charged with arson and murder relating to a fire which killed six people in Areopolis.
And in the northern city of Kavala two youths have been detained on suspicion of arson.
Campaigning for the country's general election has been suspended. Analysts say the vote may have to be postponed.
Blackened skies
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant, in Pyrgos, says radio stations are being inundated with calls from people in remote mountain villages saying they are surrounded by fire.
We are living through an unspeakable tragedy today
Meanwhile, many bodies have been taken to a mortuary in the city of Patras.
Our correspondent said relatives of the dead were sobbing quietly in the hospital corridors, waiting for a chance to identify their loved ones.
Almost 200 fires have been reported - there were about 70 new blazes during Saturday, while many others continued to burn from the previous day.
Strong winds have blown smoke and ash towards Athens 330km (200 miles) away, starting more fires and blocking out the sun over the capital.
Burnt-out houses
The prime minister has promised to bring any arsonists to justice.
"No-one has the right to take human lives and destroy the environment... to destroy our country," said Mr Karamanlis.
Most of the dead came from villages near the town of Zaharo, on the west coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula.
At least nine people are reported to have burnt to death in their cars as they attempted to flee the flames near Zaharo.
The Associated Press news agency reported that a car had crashed into a fire engine, causing a traffic jam from which people could not escape as the flames advanced.
Fire crews said they had found at least 30 bodies in villages near Zaharo as they searched burned out cars and houses.
"It's a tragedy," an eyewitness told Greek television. "I can see the burnt bodies of a mother holding her child in her arms. Further away there are more bodies. It's terrible."
Emergency workers have been finding charred bodies in fields, homes, and in cars, including the remains of a mother clutching her four children.
Fire officials confirmed that three firefighters were among the dead.
'Astonishing speed'
A local official close to the scene described it as horrific.
"The situation is extremely dire... The speed with which this fire has been spreading is astonishing," said the mayor of Zaharo, Pantazis Chronopoulos.
Fires burnt all through Saturday around Zaharo
Six deaths were confirmed in the seaside town of Areopolis in the Mani region of Greece's deep south. Hotels and several villages have been evacuated, fire officials said.
A hot, dry summer, with temperatures recently touching 40C (104F) has made much of the country vulnerable.
Firefighters have already battled ferocious fires this summer, but the current outbreak is thought to be the most serious for decades.
Some 500 soldiers have been sent to affected areas and the Greek government has appealed to its EU partners for help.
So far France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands have promised to send firefighting aircraft.
There has been widespread public anger at the government's response, which many have criticised as inadequate and slow.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- A forest fire that torched thousands of acres of pristine pine forest and dozens of homes in the northern suburbs of Athens is now under control, fire brigade officials said on Friday.
Moses Altsech, a Wisconsin college professor on vacation, photographed smoke clouds with his cell phone.
The fire, fanned by gale-force winds, started early on Thursday and raced down the Penteli mountain, burning homes, cars and forest land, with the fire brigade struggling to stop it.
It took hundreds of firefighters and volunteers, airplanes and helicopters some 12 hours to confine it away from affluent residential areas in the suburbs of Nea Penteli, Melisia and Vrilisia.
"The fire has now been brought under control," a fire brigade official told Reuters. "As there are some small fire fronts we are still patrolling the area."
"More than 100 firefighters, 61 firetrucks and three helicopters are still in the area, ready to deal with any possible rekindling," he said.
Officials could not give details on the extent of the damage caused by the fire. But mayors at the suburbs said dozens of houses were completely destroyed while many others suffered severe damages.
"The destruction is very extensive. The response was very delayed and had there been a faster response the fire could have been contained much, much earlier," Melisia mayor Manolis Grafakos told reporters.
At least ten people were taken to hospital with breathing problems and a firefighter was injured on duty. The fire also triggered a series of power cuts throughout the capital.
Greece has seen some of the worst fires of the past decade this summer, caused by record-high temperatures, drought and arsonists.
In late June, the biggest national park near the city, on Mount Parnitha, burned for three days leaving more than a third of the nature reserve charred.E-mail to a friend
平常家裏很少吃到紅蘿蔔和蘑菇
We are living through an unspeakable tragedy today 
上星期四大學同學小婷到雅典, 自己一個人很高興的坐著公車轉捷運到市中心跟小婷會合, 買完紀念品, 大夥人移動去餐廳打牙祭, 順道等老公下班, 沒想到老公一來就跟我說失火了!! 那失火, 就我家附近的Penteli山上正在火災中, 在憲法礦場上的天空都可以看到濃濃的煙, 趕忙指給同學看, 回家路上, 和老公在Halandri捷運站下車時, 都可以聞到一股濃濃的煙味, 一出捷運站, 就可以看到天空彌散著更為明顯的煙!! 這個熊熊大火到我晚上8點多從超市回家的路上, 都可以看到Penteli山上有著紅紅的火焰一直竄出, 真是嚇人阿!! 
