(Updates death toll) By George Hatzidakis ATHENS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - At least 17 people died and huge swathes of forest were consumed in fires racing through Greece's Peloponnese peninsula on Friday as southeast Europe experienced a resurgence of summer blazes. Greece called on the European Union for urgent help in fighting the worst fires the country has seen for decades. "We have seventeen confirmed deaths and two more people feared dead, but we are not sure," said fire department spokesman Nikos Diamandis. Six people including two firefighters died near the town of Aereopoulis on the southerly Peloponnese peninsula, where multiple fire fronts fanned by strong winds burned farms, homes and forests. Firefighters said there were two French tourists among the dead, but they could not be identified. Another eleven people were found dead near Zakharo, on the west coast of the peninsula, at least six of them in cars. Diamandis said the firefighters were working through the night to rescue trapped villagers, while 500 soldiers would arrive in the area on Saturday to help. "I can see our houses burning. We're searching for people who might be trapped in their homes but there are no firefighters here, we need help," a local resident told Greek television. "We have no hope, they've abandoned us to God." Dozens of other Greek villages asked for help, from the west coast of the Peloponnese to the region of Mani, 80 km (50 miles) further east, as the fires were spread by strong winds. Aircraft and helicopters were being deployed against the flames. The government announced a state of emergency in Lakonia and Messinia provinces. RESCUE EFFORTS Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis flew to the area to be briefed on the rescue efforts and vowed that the area would be reforested, while the state would pay damages to the victims. "I express my deepest pain for the loss of our fellow citizens, these are very difficult times for all of us," he said. The mayor of Zakharo, Pantazis Chronopoulos, told reporters: "The situation is extremely dire ... The speed with which this fire has been spreading is astonishing." A combination of soaring temperatures, hot winds, drought and arson in southern Europe has caused a new upsurge in forest fires after tens of thousands of acres of land were scorched in an even more intense heatwave last month. In Greece, where the temperature has hit 41 Celsius (106 F) this week, fires reached the outskirts of Athens and destroyed much of the nearby Mount Parnitha nature reserve. A total of 170 fires broke out on Thursday and Friday alone.# Greeks go to the polls on Sept. 16. The government's popularity has fallen as the public have blamed it for failures to stop the fires. "We are observing tonight, with indignation and deep sadness, the images of a catastrophe of biblical proportions," said George Papandreou, leader of the opposition party PASOK. In Italy, where blazes are spreading across many southern areas, an 83-year-old man died near the southern city of Potenza on Friday. Police said he was probably trying to put out a fire. Italy's Civil Protection Authority said Thursday had been the worst day for forest fires in Italian history. Nine people have died from fires in Italy over the past month, including three at a guest house in Sicily on Wednesday. In southeastern Bosnia, where the temperature has hit 42 Celsius (108 F) this week, firefighters and villagers were battling several forest fires fanned by strong winds. Even in Portugal, which like Spain has been spared the worst of the fires because of an unusually cool, damp summer in western Europe, 300 firefighters had to be mobilised on Thursday to put out a blaze near the historic town of Sintra. (Additional reporting by Daphne Papadopoulou and Karolos Grohmann in Athens, Maya Zuvela in Sarajevo, Axel Bugge in Lisbon, Silvia Aloisi in Rome)
