Greece offers up to 1 mln euro reward for arsonists

ATHENS, Aug 26 (Reuters) Greece offered a reward of up to 1 million euros today for information leading to the arrest of any arsonists responsible for a spate of forest fires that have killed at least 56 people in the past three days.

''The reward is set between 100,000 to 1 million euros for every arson, depending on whether death or serious injury occured and the size of the damage,'' the Public Order Ministry said in a statement.

Unchecked forest fires have killed 56 people and burned more than 500 homes, businesses and tens of thousands of hectares of forest since Friday, with the government declaring a nationwide state of emergency.

REUTERS MS BST0026