Two firefighters die battling blaze on Crete: official

Two firefighters died battling a forest blaze on the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, the fire department said as several fires broke out around the country fed by gale-force winds.

"Two firefighters fell in the line of duty," deputy fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios told AFP.

State TV ERT said the men had been trapped by the fire in their fire engine in the foothills of a mountain near the western city of Rethymno.

Local municipal official Sifis Vavourakis told ERT the fire front was over 15 kilometres (nine miles) long.

"The fire is out of control," he said.

Some 110 firefighters with 27 fire engines and four aircraft had been dispatched to deal with the fire, the fire department said earlier.

With winds of up to 74 kilometres (46 miles) per hour, other fires were raging on the islands of Paros and Lesbos, and Messinia and Laconia in the Peloponnese peninsula.

According to local authorities, around 10 villages on Paros were evacuated as a precaution, though conditions had improved on Wednesday.