REGGIO CALABRIA – Forest fires raging across the southern Italian region of Calabria have claimed their first victims.

 The bodies of a man and a woman have been found at a rural property in San Lorenzo, in the province of Reggio Calabria.

 Margherita Cilione (53) and Antonino Cilione (34) – an aunt and nephew – died while trying to save an olive grove from being engulfed by flames.

 Mr Cilione leaves behind a wife and two young children while Ms Cilione, a widow, was a mother of three.

 Mayor of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Falcomatà said the Grecanica area of the region has been brought to its knees.

 “Hundreds of hectares of greenery have gone up in smoke. Some homes have been evacuated, some businesses damaged [and] communities are exhausted,” Mr Falcomatà said.

 “Mayors are fighting on the frontline, even risking their lives to battle the emergency. There is a real danger for people and despite the excellent work of Civil Protection, firefighters and police, the situation is not yet under control,” he said.

 “We have formally requested a state of emergency for all the municipalities affected by the fires.”

 He also stressed the need for urgent action to prevent “an environmental disaster of gigantic proportions.”

 “Immediate interventions need to be planned to restore the safety of the areas and an effective response needs to be organized to prevent the mountains, without the protection of the trees and plants, from collapsing into rivers of mud at the first rains,” Mr Falcomatà said.

 In recent weeks, fires have swept through the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily as well as other parts of southern Europe including Spain and Greece. In Turkey, deadly wildfires have claimed eight lives and forced the evacuation of tourist resorts.

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