Greek villages and monasteries evacuated as wildfire damages homes

A wildfire burns houses in Greece (Valerie Gache/AP)

A large wildfire in Greece has damaged homes and prompted evacuations as it tore through rugged forest terrain.

Fire service officials said eight water-dropping planes and three helicopters were involved in a bid to try to contain the blaze some 45 miles west of Athens, outside the resort town of Loutraki.