UK tourists have been urged to evacuate parts of Rhodes as an out-of-control bushfire rages on the Greek holiday island.
Up to 30,000 locals and tourists have been forced to flee in the largest evacuation Greece has ever seen as fires rage across the popular island.
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Thousands of tourists forced to flee as fires engulfed Rhodes
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Smoke clouds from a forest fire rise into the sky on the island of Rhodes Credit: AP
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The images show columns of people fleeing from towns and tourist centers on the island of Rhodes Credit: AFP
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A man holds his son as they flee the burning town Credit: Getty
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Pines burned in a forest fire Credit: AFP
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Greek authorities say it is the largest evacuation mission ever to take place in the country as they battle the biggest fire Greece has ever seen.
Flames have been burning for almost a week on the island after Greece was hit with a prolonged period of extreme heat that made it difficult to contain the fire.
Extraordinary scenes show columns of people carrying their luggage and children trying to escape.
The fire has burned parts of the forest and engulfed towns and cities since it broke out in the mountainous region on Tuesday.
The fire spread to at least three hotels in the coastal town of Kiotari, which were engulfed in flames on Saturday.
Officials at the British embassy in Athens urged the British to leave the area on Saturday night as public holidays and flights to Rhodes remained cancelled.
The battle is expected to worsen today, with even stronger winds blowing across the island and fanning the flames.
“The wind is expected to get stronger between 12:00 and 17:00, without excluding the possibility that it will happen earlier,” fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said.
“This is not a fire that will go out tomorrow or the day after,” he added. It will haunt us for days.
Yiannis Artopios, spokesman for the fire service, said: “The focus now is to contain the two main fronts in the southern and central part of the island.
“The regions affected so far may represent less than 10 percent of the island’s hotel infrastructure, but if left unchecked, the fires could threaten the remaining 90 percent.”
Although hotter, drier, and windier summers have sparked more fires in recent years, how the fire started has not been confirmed.
Artopios said authorities are questioning the suspected arsonists.
“Fires don’t start by themselves,” he told Skai TV. “They are propelled by the human hand, whether intentionally or not.
“We currently have several people being questioned about their possible involvement.”
Overnight, fires also engulfed the town of Laerma, where houses and a church burned, while numerous hotels were damaged by flames that sometimes reached the sea.
More than 250 firefighters, supported by bomber planes and reinforcements from Slovakia, fought on three fronts on Sunday.
They set up fire rings to prevent the flames from spreading into dense forest or threatening larger residential areas.
The fleeing British spent the night in makeshift camps across the island, with young children forced to sleep on mattresses in classrooms and sports halls.
The British ambassador to Greece said the Foreign Office had sent a “rapid deployment team” to help British tourists who were among the thousands forced to flee.
Another British tourist who was forced to flee the fire described how it felt like “the end of the world”.
Londoner Ian Morrison was staying in the Kiotari area when he saw the sea turn “black with soot” and ash was falling on people’s heads.
After walking miles and finally hitchhiking to Gennadi Beach, he told Sky News: “Over the next few hours, the number of people in the area just kept growing and growing.
“Then, as the power dropped, people became more and more concerned about how they were going to get out of this.
“It was literally like the end of the world,” he said as the flames threatened to chase him.
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Helen Tonks, mother of three, from Manchester, flew to Rhodes on Saturday night with her three daughters and her husband ahead of a two-week break in the sun.
She told The Sun: “There was absolutely no communication. We came here and they told us that our hotel was among the evacuees.
“They put us on a bus and took us to a school in the old town of Rhodes. We are hundreds here. We are housed in makeshift dormitories in the classrooms.
Dozens sleep on mattresses on the gym’s basketball court.”
Jet2 have now canceled all flights and holidays that were due to fly to Rhodes today.
The statement added: “We will fly those five empty planes to Rhodes without customers, so we can return customers to the UK on their scheduled flight.”
Tui has also now canceled all his flights and holidays to Rhodes up to and including Tuesday 25th July.
Coast Guard vessels and more than 20 private vessels participated in the operation to evacuate tourists and local residents on Saturday night.
Physical education teacher Dan Jones, from Torquay, said: “We are safe for now. The scariest moment of my life.
“After we entered the sea and got on the fishing boat, we are far from danger.”
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Pictures show tourists sleeping on mattresses in school sports halls after evacuationCredit: HELEN TONKS
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Tourists and locals try to rest in emergency shelters Credit: HELEN TONKS
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Many tourists were taken directly from the beaches in their bathing suitsCredit: AFP
British tourists took to social media and told of the chaos on the island.
Katie Bettell-Higgins said: “After a terrifying day escaping the #bushfires in #Rhodes without the help of #jet2tweets, I am honored to benefit from the overwhelming kindness of the amazing local volunteers who helped, fed and made us comfortable overnight at the basketball arena.”
Jon Hughes said: “Jet2, where are you? No help, contact or guidance.
“I had to walk four miles in the heat on dirt roads in smoke and ash with a five-year-old. No possessions.”
It comes as Greece continues to face high temperatures, with up to 45C forecast for the next week.
The country also experienced an “insidious and dangerous” heat wave earlier this month, with temperatures also reaching 40C.
Meteorology experts have declared 2023 the year of El Niño, a natural phenomenon that occurs cyclically and causes fluctuations in the global climate.
The UN World Meteorological Organization said temperatures will rise worldwide and the effect is likely to continue until the end of the year.
And despite the heat this summer, the European temperature record of 48.8°C, set in 2021 in Sardinia, Sicily, has not been reached and is currently not expected to be broken.
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Firefighters try to put out a bushfire near Kiotari and LardoCredit: Reuters
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Wildfires rage in resort towns as brave firefighters battle the flames
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Source: newstars.edu.vn