Thousands of tourists flee the Greek island of Rhodes after wildfire turns dangerous

A wildfire raged uncontrolled on the Greek island of Rhodes on Saturday, forcing hundreds of holidaymakers to flee affected villages and beaches, including two seaside resorts, authorities said.

About 2,000 people, including tourists, were evacuated by sea, fire department spokesman Yannis Artopios said on Saturday evening. He added that the hotels and rented homes evacuated "represent less than 10% of the island's tourist accommodations.”

He added that all visitors had been evacuated without incident. Three coast guard vessels, an army lifeboat, a special forces inflatable craft and 30 private sailboats helped with the evacuation.

Local media reported the fires had reached three hotels, whose clients had already been evacuated. According to ERT tv, some firefighters were forced to take refuge in the Ypseni Monastery near Lardos.

Firefighters, backed by air water bombers and reinforcements by Slovakia, struggled with new outbreaks of the wildfire, which has burned for days and was fanned by strong winds.

The fire has scorched swathes of forest since breaking out in a mountainous area on Tuesday. It damaged three hotels in the seaside village of Kiotari on Saturday, according to the Athens News Agency.

Artapoios said the blaze on Rhodes, which broke out on a mountain in the centre of the island, was the most difficult fire faced by the Fire Department forces there. Five helicopters and 173 firefighters were operating in the area. Three hotels in the Kiotari area have been damaged by the fire.

Fire Service spokesman Yannis Artopios said Saturday afternoon that the residents of four localities were sent SMS messages to evacuate — in two localities they were told to move to the northeast and, in two others, to the southwest.

Civil protection authorities have warned of a very high risk of wildfires on Rhodes and other areas in Greece on Sunday, as temperatures were expected to hit 45˚C amid a heatwave.

Fires are common in Greece but hotter, drier and windy summers have turned the country into a wildfire hotspot in recent years. Meteorologists have warned that the current sweltering temperatures are expected to last until the end of the month.

Agencies