Photos show destruction from wildfires in Greece as blazes take hold in Europe and parts of the US

Photos show water-dropping planes and helicopters as hundreds of firefighters battle major wildfires over Europe and parts of the U.S. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

A man watches flames rising during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

An aerial view of a homes burned by wildfires in Le Porge, southwestern France, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

Allen Sather and his wife Kimberley embrace at the duplex they rent on W. Indian Trail Rd. after it burned in a wildfire in Spokane, Wash., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

People watch Old Trails Fire from W. Northwest Blvd., Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

Julian Alonso walks on his property destroyed by a wildfire in El Encinar del Alberche, Madrid province, Spain, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Firefighters operate during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

A volunteer tries to extinguish small flames during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

The light flows through a charred forest near Ares, during wildfires in southwestern France, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke billows from a wildfire approaching Krio Pigadi near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

Water drips from a firefighter's hose nozzle during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

Firefighters operate during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

A vehicle and structure are burned on N. Skyline Dr. due to a wildfire, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

A firefighter walks through a charred forest near Blagon, during wildfires, southwestern France, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

A firefighting helicopter drops water over a smoke-filled forest during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

TOKYO (AP) — Residents in Japan's quake-hit southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto put out heaps of debris for collection and the prime minister visited as the region baked under intense heat.

The heat and a lack of water supplies have added to the challenges in the severely damaged areas where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi briefly visited for the first time since a magnitude 7.1 quake hit Kumamoto Prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu last Tuesday.

Thirty-eight people died during the quake, including one who died of apparent heat stroke while taking shelter in a car in hot weather and one other whose cause of death is still being investigated, prefectural officials said Monday.

Residents put out heaps of debris, broken furniture and damaged appliances for collection, while in the towns of Uki and Hikawa, construction of temporary housing began.

More than 46,000 households remained without water and many also faced fuel shortages as the region suffers sweltering heat, stoking fears of heat-related illness. Japan Meteorological Agency predicted that temperatures would rise close to 40 C (104 F) Monday.

More than 8,500 people remain at crowded emergency shelters, such as converted community centers, school gyms and classrooms, many of which lack air-conditioning. Others are sleeping in cars at town hall parking lots and parks, or outside of their homes.

Experts have long warned that inadequate shelter provision leads to crowded conditions and a lack of sanitation and privacy for people forced to leave their homes following disasters.

Takaichi on Monday visited one of the area's best-equipped shelters, with cardboard beds, partitions and air-conditioning, triggering criticisms on social media that her visit distorted reality.

Meanwhile, a company that owned a general store in a collapsed shopping mall acknowledged that it had instructed two employees who were killed in a later explosion to return to the building to put sales proceeds into a safe.

Two executives of Habita, a local general store operator that had a shop inside the collapsed Aeon Mall in the town of Kashima, attended the wake Sunday of one of the two victims, 22-year-old Kurumi Otake, and apologized to her parents for the death.

Company sales manager Goji Yuse acknowledged that the company instructed the two to put sales proceeds into the safe if it was possible.

“I wish someone had stopped her,” Otake's tearful mother told them. “My daughter is not coming back.”

The mall's operator said it believes the explosion was due to a gas leak and occurred after about 3,000 shoppers had been evacuated to a parking lot following the quake, but some employees remained inside. Rescuers recovered five people and the bodies of seven others from the mall.

The earthquake has left 114 people injured across Kumamoto, authorities said.

Some 700 homes were destroyed, and more than 11,300 buildings were damaged, according to Kumamoto prefecture.

People rest at an evacuation center in Uki, southern Japan, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, after recent earthquakes. (Yuta Omori/Kyodo News via AP)

A person rides a bicycle past damaged buildings in Hikawa, southern Japan, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, following a July 28 earthquake. (Taichi Nagahisa/Kyodo News via AP)