Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey on August 1 as wildfires that have claimed eight lives raged for a fifth day, while blazes also hit Greece, Italy & Spain. A major blaze broke out early on July 31 near Patras in the western Greece. Five villages have been evacuated & eight people were hospitalised with burns & respiratory problems in the region, which remains on alert, reported AFP. Around 20 homes have been burnt down, according to a provisional figure from the fire brigade. The mayor of nearby village Aigialeias, Dimitris Kalogeropoulos, called it "an immense catastrophe\". Flames consumed around 30 houses, barns and stables in the villages of Ziria, Kamares, Achaias & Labiri. Italy was again hit by fires after more than 20,000 hectares of forest, olive groves and crops were destroyed by a blaze in Sardinia last weekend. More than 800 flare-ups were recorded this weekend, mainly in the south, Italy's fire brigade said. It added that firefighters were still battling blazes in the Sicilian cities of Catania, Palermo and Syracuse. While the south of Italy has been burning, the north has suffered wild storms.