BEIJING, Agu. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Greek officails said Sunday that they have arrested and charged four individuals in connection with the wildfires that would have destroyed the birthplace of Olympics and alreday killed 60 people in three-day inferno, media reported on Monday.

    One of the individuals is a 65-year-old man who was charged with arson and homicide in a fire that killed six people in Areopolis, a town in southern Greece, said Nikos Diamandis, a fire department spokesman.

    The second person is a 77-year-old woman who reportedly started a fire while cooking in her garden in Zaharo, one of the hardest hit areas in the south.

    Authorities are deeming her behavior criminal neglect.

    Two youths were also arrested on suspicion of arson in the northern city of Kavala, added Nikos Diamandis.

    Dozens of fires, from northern Greece to the tip of the Peloponnese peninsula in the south, destroyed forests and raced through towns and villages. Hundreds of houses have been burned and thousands of people have fled the fires, seeking temporary refuge in schools, hotels and regional health centers.

    On Sunday the government offered rewards of up to 1.36 milliona U.S. dollars for help in tracking down arsonists who it suggests have played a major role in Greece's worst forest fires in decades.

    In the wake of the unprecedented natural catastrophe, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis Saturday evening declared a nationwide state of emergency and promised hefty financial assistance for fire-ravaged victims and regions.

    In expressing his personal "grief and rage" over the wildfires, Karamanlis said, "I am angered, as are all Greeks, by the fact that so many wildfires occurred in so many different parts. This is not a coincidence."

    Forest fires are common during Greece's hot, dry summers — but nothing has approached the scale of the last three days. Arson is often suspected, mostly to clear land for development. No construction is allowed in Greece in areas designated as forest land, and fires are sometimes set to circumvent the law.

(Agencies)