According to the Greek government, 19,000 people have been brought to safety since Saturday because of the fierce forest fires on the holiday island of Rhodes. It is the largest evacuation operation ever carried out in Greece.
Initial police estimates put 16,000 people to safety by land and 3,000 by sea from the beaches. Twelve villages and all hotels in the affected regions have been evacuated as a precaution. The region around the holiday resort of Lindos with its famous 4th-century Acropolis, which is popular with tourists, was particularly affected.
“It’s Not Over Tomorrow or the Day After Tomorrow”
“This is not a fire that will be over tomorrow or the day after,” fire spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis told Skai TV on Sunday. The fire in Rhodes will “make it difficult for us for days”. According to Greek broadcaster ERT, firefighters had to seek shelter at Lardos in Ypseni Monastery. There they again tried to persuade the monks to leave the facility.
Overnight at the gym
Regional governor Georgios Hadjimarkos said on Skai TV that evacuations have been complicated by road links broken by the fire. Displaced vacationers, as well as some local residents, were accommodated for the night in gymnasiums, school buildings and hotel conference centers.
Picked up from the beach
According to the coast guard, more than 2,000 people have been picked up by ships from the beaches of Kiotari and Lardos in the east of the Mediterranean island and taken to another, safer beach on the island. This evacuation operation involved more than 30 private vessels, led by three Coast Guard vessels. Three Austrians were also brought to safety on the water, they reported to the “Krone”.
A Greek naval vessel was en route to the disaster area to assist with rescue operations, the Coast Guard said. Dozens of buses were also sent to rescue the people. Tourists have been flocking to the beaches since the evacuation alert sounded early Saturday morning.
Tourists are issued exit permits
According to media reports, some of the holidaymakers now evacuated had missed their flight from the island as the flames had cut off normal transport links. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a hotspot at the airport of the island of Rhodes where tourists can obtain an exit permit in an unbureaucratic way if they no longer have their identity papers due to the large forest fires on the island.
Burning all over Greece
The big fire on Rhodes has been raging for almost a week. It had erupted on a mountain in the center of the island. Greece is currently experiencing an extreme heat wave. Temperatures above 44 degrees were predicted for this weekend. And forests are also on fire in other places in the country, according to the fire brigade, 46 new fires broke out within 24 hours.
Source: Krone
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