Greece fires – live: Latest death toll as hundreds rescued by boat as flames reach shore of Evia island

People are sharing footage and images of smoke clouds seen in areas near Evia.

As blazes continue in Greece, Russia’s Siberia is still battling its own wildfires.

Several villages in the vast region are endangered and authorities have evacuated residents from some areas.

In northeastern Siberia, 93 active forest fires are burning across 1.1 million hectares (2.8 million acres) of Sakha-Yakutia, officials said, making it the worst affected region of Russia.

A fire engulfed dozens of houses in the village of Byas-Kuel, and all village residents were evacuated, according to the local task force dealing with the emergency.

Fires also burned close to the villages of Kytyl-Dyura, Sinsk, Yedyai and several other settlements. High winds exacerbated the danger of flames spreading quickly.

In the village of Sangary, emergency teams were taking urgent steps to protect a threatened fuel supply facility.

In recent years, Russia has recorded high temperatures that many scientists regard as a result of climate change. The hot weather coupled with the neglect of fire safety rules has caused a growing number of fires.

Experts also blame the worsening situation with fires on a 2007 decision to disband a federal aviation network tasked to spot and combat fires and turn its assets to regional authorities. The much-criticized move led to the force’s rapid decline.

The forests that cover huge areas of Russia make spotting new fires a challenge.

Fires on Evia, Greece’s second-biggest island, continued their destructive path overnight on Friday and into Saturday morning.

Hundreds of people, including many elderly residents, were evacuated by sea late on Friday from the town of Limni on the northwestern part of the island.

Coastguard Sotiris Danikas told broadcaster ERT: “We’re talking about the apocalypse, I don’t know how to describe it.”

Thousands of people fled to safety from a wildfire that swept through a residential town outside Athens overnight, amid the worst heatwave in the country for decades.

Emergency crews have been struggling to battle the fire on Mount Parnitha on the outskirts of Athens since late on Thursday.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of more suburbs north of Athens, Evia and areas in the Peloponnese including Mani, Messinia and ancient Olympia, the site of the first Olympic Games.

A 38-year-old volunteer firefighter has died after being struck in the head by a falling electricity pylon in the north of the Greek capital of Athens, officials have confirmed.

A second man, named as Konstantinos Michalos, the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was found unconscious in a factory in Krioneri and was later confirmed dead in hospital.

A further 20 people have been injured.