Thousands of tourists and residents on the Greek island of Rhodes crowded into schools and shelters on Sunday, fleeing a wildfire, with many escaping in private boats along beaches as the flames threatened coastal resorts and villages.
Thousands spent the night on beaches and streets.
Tour operators Jet2, TUI and Correndon have canceled flights departing for Rhodes, which lies southeast of mainland Greece and is popular for its warm seas and ancient sites.
The fire brigade said 19,000 people had been evacuated from homes and hotels, calling the operation the biggest safe transport of residents and tourists Greece has ever undertaken.
“It was literally like the end of the world,” British tourist Ian Murison told Sky News of a rescue boat he managed after crowds crowded buses in a chaotic evacuation from a beach.
Fires are common in Greece, but hotter summers have brought more of them in recent years, with climate change the driving factor.
Coastguard vessels and private boats ferried more than 3,000 tourists from beaches on Saturday after a wildfire, which has been burning for nearly a week, reignited in southeastern Rhodes. Other parts of Greece’s third most populous island, including the main city, Rhodes Town, were unaffected.
Many people fled hotels as huge flames hit the coastal communities of Kiotari, Gennadi, Pefki, Lindos, Lardos and Kalathos. Crowds gathered in the streets under a red sky as smoke hung over the deserted coastlines.
Another British tourist, Amy Leyden, described the “terrifying” experience of being transferred from two hotels with her 11-year-old daughter before being taken to a school.
“We were walking down the road at 2am and the fire was catching up with us,” she told Sky.
In Lindos, famous for an acropolis on a huge rock within the medieval walls, a fire blackened the hillside and burned buildings.
Thanasis Virinis, deputy mayor of Rhodes, told Mega Television on Sunday that between 4,000 and 5,000 people were in temporary accommodation, asking for donations of essentials such as mattresses and bedding.
Those evicted went to hotels, indoor stadiums, conference centers and school buildings, where they received food, water and medical assistance, officials said.
A pregnant woman and another person were hospitalized, fire spokesman Ioannis Artopoios said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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