A wildfire raging on the Greek island of Rhodes forced thousands of tourists and island residents to shelter in schools and indoor stadiums on Sunday after they were evacuated from coastal villages and resorts.
Local police said 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels. Six people were briefly treated at a hospital for respiratory problems. A person who fell and broke a leg during a hotel evacuation and a pregnant woman remained hospitalized, the latter in good condition, authorities said.
“There were lots of people in Gennadi sent from the hotels — many in just swimsuits having been told to leave everything in the hotel,” he told PA. “As night fell, we could see the fire on the top of the hills in Kiotari. They said all the hotels were on fire.” Kotiadis said he and other travel agents sent buses to the island’s southeast to pick up evacuated tourists. They had to go the long way around, since the road running down Rhodes’ eastern side was blocked in places.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that personnel were on their way to Rhodes to set up a help desk at Rhodes International Airport for visitors who have lost their travel documents. Southwest of the resort of Kiotari, the main focus of Saturday’s evacuations, a trench was being dug to keep the fire from crossing a creek and threatening the village of Gennadi.
Fires broke out elsewhere in the country Sunday. The most serious one was on Evia, Greece’s second- largest island, where authorities told residents of four southern villages to evacuate to the town of Karystos, west of where the fire was advancing.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Thousands of Tourists Evacuate Greek Island Rhodes Amid Fiery BlazeMore than 10,000 tourists visiting the Greek island have started evacuating via the sea as wildfires burn across the east side.
Read more »
Wildfire on Greek island of Rhodes forces hundreds to evacuateA wildfire raged uncontrolled on the Greek island of Rhodes on Saturday, forcing hundreds of people to flee affected villages and beaches, authorities said.
Read more »
Blaze rages out of control on Greek island of Rhodes, forcing evacuations including from 2 resortsA large blaze burning on the Greek island of Rhodes for the fifth day has forced authorities to order an evacuation of four locations.
Read more »
2,000 people including tourists evacuated as a wildfire rages on the Greek island of RhodesA large wildfire burning on the Greek island of Rhodes for a fifth day has forced authorities to order an evacuation of four locations including two seaside resorts.
Read more »