Tourists flee wildfires on Greek island

Thousands of tourists and residents fleeing wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes took refuge in schools and shelters on Sunday, with many evacuated on private boats as flames threatened resorts and coastal villages.
Thousands spent the night on beaches and streets during what Greece said was its biggest safe transport of residents and tourists in emergency conditions.
Some 19,000 people were moved from homes and hotels overnight as fires burning since last Wednesday gathered pace, tearing through forests until the flames reached coastal resorts on the island’s south-eastern coast.
Some holidaymakers said they walked for miles in scorching heat to reach safety. The fires left trees black and skeletal. Dead animals lay in the road near burnt-out cars.
Tour operators Jet2, TUI and Correndon cancelled flights leaving for Rhodes, which lies southeast of mainland Greece and is famous for its beaches and historic sites. “The smoke was coming. So we all set off on foot. I walked 12 miles in this heat yesterday. It took me four hours,” said British tourist Chris Freestone.
He spoke from a sports hall alongside evacuees lying on mattresses in the island’s principal city, Rhodes Town, which was unaffected by the fires further south.
TUI said its teams were doing everything they could to support customers and had sent in additional staff in what it called “a difficult and evolving situation”.
Another holidaymaker, Fay Mortimer from Cheshire in northern England, said the experience had been terrifying.
“I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” she said.
The Greek transport ministry said TUI and Jet2, which handle the bulk of tourism to Rhodes, planned 14 scheduled flights from Rhodes airport, transferring about 2,700 passengers until 3am local time.
All TUI and Jet2 flights would land empty to pick up tourists, the ministry said. Fires are common in Greece but climate change has led to more extreme heatwaves across southern Europe and many parts of the world.
Temperatures over the past week have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Greece. In addition to Rhodes, emergency services were dealing with fires on the island of Evia, east of Athens and Aigio, southwest of Athens, and on the island of Corfu where authorities ordered the precautionary evacuation of five small settlements.
A fire brigade official said the wildfires on Rhodes have affected 10% of hotels in the central and southeast parts of the island. The north and western parts were not affected.