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Firefighters battle to contain forest fire near Athens
Aug 20, 2009, 11:48 GMT
Athens - Firefighters battled to contain a forest fire raging out of control near Athens Thursday, burning olive groves and threatening industrial areas.
Dozens of firefighters assisted by five firefighting planes and three helicopters battled to put out the blaze just west of Athens, near the industrial area of Magoula and Elefsina.
Traffic was jammed for hours as officials shut off the main road leading to Magoula as a safety precaution.
Two more blazes, fanned by high temperatures and strong winds, were reported near Corinth and the Athens residential area of Dionysos.
Forest fires have become more frequent in Greece in recent summers, triggered by high temperatures and drought, but also arson.
In the last 24 hours more than 60 forest fires were reported to have broken out across the country.
Greece declared a state of emergency in 2007 during 10 days of blazes that killed more than 80 people across the country.
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