People run away from the fire in Evia, north of Athens, Greece, on Friday. An unprecedented wave of massive fires fanned by gale-force winds raged out of control across Greece late last week, sweeping into towns and villages, killing 44 people and injuring scores more in the country's deadliest forest fire toll in decades. The Greek Prime Minister yesterday called a state of emergency. - AP

ATHENS, Greece (AP):

The Prime Minister declared a nationwide state of emergency yesterday as massive forest fires sweeping across Greece killed at least 44 people and injured dozens more.

"All regions of the country are declared in a state of emergency ... to stop this evil and to start repairing the destruction as soon as possible," Costas Karamanlis said in a televised address to the nation.

Since Friday morning, more than 170 blazes have swept across the country, with the most devastating in the Peloponnese to the south. New fires broke out Saturday, and fears grew that the death toll could increase as rescue crews reached villages that had been cut off by walls of flames.

The skies above Athens turned red with smoke, and ashes fell in the centre of the capital as wind drove the flames across the parched landscape.

The fires were so severe that authorities said they could not yet provide an estimate of how much damage they had caused, nor what expanse of land had been burned.

News reports put the death toll at 50 authorities could not immediately confirm the higher number.

Deadliest fire

The deadliest fire was in the western Peloponnese near the town of Zaharo. It cost more than 30 lives, including those of a mother and her four children.

"The country is in a state of emergency. I call on all citizens to assist in the collective fight, which must be won for the good of the country," Karamanlis said in his address. "I feel deep pain for the mother who perished in the flames with her arms round her children."

Throughout the night and into Saturday, desperate residents and local mayors trapped by fires in remote villages called television and radio stations to appeal for help from overstretched firefighters. It was unclear how many people remained trapped in remote villages yesterday afternoon.