Thracian Sea

The Evros wildfire, now in its 11th day, has destroyed an area larger than New York City, the European Union-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service has said.

View of a partially burned forest following a wildfire, near the village of Avantas in the region of Evros, northeastern Greece. Firefighters were working on three fronts on Tuesday to extinguish the fire blazing in Evros. The fire department's projection of a change in wind direction to the south is increasing concern of the risk of the flames approaching settlements.

Hundreds of Greek firefighters were battling a huge blaze on Monday that has killed at least 20 people over the past 10 days, Europe's deadliest wildfire so far this summer as record-setting heatwaves unleash blazes across the continent.

More than 600 firefighters, including reinforcements from several European countries and backed by a fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters, were battling three major wildfires in Greece Sunday, two of which have been raging for days.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos expressed on Wednesday his support to those affected by the wildfires that have been raging for days across Greece, describing them as a "tragedy".

The fires in Greece are continuing. Last night, a new fire broke out - on the island of Samothrace.

The flames in the Greek part of the Rhodopes are heading towards Komotini at this hour, reports the Greek public television ERT. Several villages in the area are being evacuated.

According to preliminary estimates, the fire has burned 380,000 acres.

Eighteen people died in the village of Avantas in Evros, northeastern Greece, where fires raged on Tuesday for a fourth straight day, along with dozens of new blazes.

The victims, which included two children, are believed to be migrants who apparently had not been informed of the fire's progress.

Two children were among the 18 people burned in a forest fire in the northeast of the country, an official has confirmed.

Pavlos Pavlidis, coroner in the city of Alexandroupoli, conducted an initial inspection at the site where the charred remains were found, south of the village of Avantas.

26 charred bodies were found in a burnt forest in the Evros region in northern Greece, the website In.gr reported. Found by the police in the Dadia National Park, they are believed to be illegal migrants.

Dozens of hospital patients were evacuated onto a ferry in the Greek port city of Alexandroupolis early on Tuesday, the fire brigade said, as wildfires in the area raged uncontrolled for the fourth day.  Across Greece, two people have died and two firefighters were injured, authorities said.