“The death toll rises every hour, many people lost their loved ones, many people lost their houses, lost everything, and they will need long-term support in order to recover,” she said.
Greece has asked other European countries for helicopters and additional firefighters to help tackle the fires.
Italy, Germany, Poland and France have all sent help in the form of planes, vehicles and firefighters, and Spain and Cyprus have offered Greece assistance, but with temperatures set to soar again, they are in a race against time to get the fires under control.
The wildfires are the worst to hit Greece since 2007, when dozens of people were killed in the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
What caused the fires?
Fires are a recurring problem during the hot, dry summer months in Attica.
Officials quoted by AFP news agency have suggested the current blazes may have been started by arsonists looking to loot abandoned homes.
“Fifteen fires had started simultaneously on three different fronts in Athens,” said government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos.
Greece, he added, had requested drones from the US to “observe and detect any suspicious activity”.
