Wildfires that tore through suburbs of Athens and forced thousands of people to flee their homes were contained on Tuesday as the government's handling of the disaster became an election issue. Likely to face voters early next year, the conservative government said very strong winds had made it difficult to fight fires in east Attica where swathes of forest and more than 150 homes were destroyed.
"If what we experienced in Attica is the best this government can do, then it is obvious we must urgently replace it," the liberal daily Ethnos said in its main editorial. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is clinging to a one-seat majority and the socialist opposition, which is ahead in opinion polls, has made clear it will force a snap poll in March when parliament votes for a new president.
"Fatal mistakes and shortcomings," read the front page headline of the conservative Kathimerini daily. It said authorities committed the same errors as in 2007 when the worst Greek blazes in living memory killed 65 people, mainly in the Peloponnese peninsula. The current fire broke out late on Friday in the village of Grammatiko, about 40 km (25 miles) north-east of Athens, and spread quickly through the mountains of east Attica.
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