Blaze ravages Evia island 'like a horror movie' on sixth day of Greek fires

"(It's) like a horror movie," said a 38-year-old pregnant evacuee who gave her name as Mina, after she boarded a rescue ferry at the town of Pefki, where falling ash covered the port.

Flames burn a house at Pefki village on Evia island, about 189 kilometers north of Athens, Greece. Pillars of billowing smoke and ash are blocking out the sun above Greece's second-largest island as a days-old wildfire devours pristine forests and triggers more evacuation alerts. Picture: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias

Thousands of people have fled their homes on the Greek island of Evia as wildfires burned uncontrolled for a sixth day on Sunday, and ferries were on standby for more evacuations after taking many to safety by sea.

The blaze on Evia, Greece's second-biggest island, quickly burgeoned into several fronts, ripping through thousands of hectares (acres) of pristine forest across its northern part, and forcing the evacuation of dozens of villages.