ATHENS, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Forest fires raging in Greece for a third day have spread to the historic site of Ancient Olympia, the Greek TV channel Sky said Sunday.
At least 51 people have been killed in forest fires since Friday, the Greek fire department said.
The Greek authorities declared August 25 a nationwide state of emergency after the fire swept through the country.
The Greek fire department earlier said it had evacuated residents from villages located a few kilometers (miles) from Ancient Olympia, the place where the Olympic Games originated.
Russia and the United States have offered their help to Greece in the efforts to extinguish forest fires, the Greek foreign minister said.
"Yesterday evening, I got in touch with U.S. and Russian representatives and received their offers for help. Now we are studying the details of these offers and the possibilities, which they have," Dora Bakoyannis said.
According to the Greek foreign ministry, nine countries have already sent firefighting aircraft to Greece.
France has sent four Canadair firefighting planes and a team of 65 firefighters. Spain and Italy have provided two similar planes each while Serbia has dispatched six special fire-extinguishing planes. Germany, the Netherlands and Israel have allocated three firefighting helicopters each and Norway and Slovenia are sending one helicopter each.
