UPDATE - Greece fighting raging wildfires for 3rd day in row

ADDS MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE AND DECK

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Greece struggled with raging wildfires for the third day in a row on Wednesday, with firefighting planes from France and Italy arriving to help put out the flames.

Additionally, three more countries have pledged their assistance and are set to send aid in the coming days.

The fires, which have erupted in the central region of Attica that encompasses the capital city of Athens and the adjacent port city of Piraeus, province of Loutraki, and Rhodes island, are still out of control as of Wednesday evening, state-run AMNA news agency reported.

The fire is spreading eastbound in Loutraki, where a state of emergency was declared on Tuesday for six months, it said. The fire has halted traffic on the Athens-Corinth highway.

The town of Megara in the Attica region is now the epicenter of the fire, which threatens residential areas despite constant efforts by firefighters to extinguish it from the ground and land.

The area affected by the fire that broke out on Monday in Attica totaled approximately 35,000 acres (14,164 hectares) as of Wednesday evening.

Furthermore, the fire that started on Wednesday in the Embona region of Rhodes remained out of control, forcing the evacuation of at least three residential areas.

Meanwhile, in response to the country's Hellenic Fire Service's request to the EU's European Civil Protection Mechanism for assistance in dealing with the wildfires, firefighting planes from France and Italy arrived in the country on Wednesday.

According to Yiannis Atofioos, a fire department spokesman, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland have so far responded positively to our request.

While firefighters and fire engines from Slovakia will arrive on Thursday, aid from Slovakia and Poland will arrive in Greece on Friday, Atofioos added.