Firefighters battle wildfires in southern Greece

Greek firefighters battled wildfires in the southern Peloponnese peninsula for the second straight day on Thursday as a state of emergency was declared in a handful of villages, according to dpa. At least two major fronts were blazing around the city of Patras, home to more than 200,000 residents, news reports said. In the mountains east of Patras, dozens of villages were evacuated while a state of emergency was declared in the villages of Prepano, Platoni, Sella and Ano Katstitsi. Residents in Ano Katritsi verbally attacked Patras Mayor Yannis Dimaras when he arrived to inspect the evacuation. They blamed him for water shortages that were hampering firefighting efforts. Greece is often hit by forest fires during the dry summer months. In recent years, fires have destroyed thousands of acres of forest and entire villages.