A wildfire in Rhodes, Greece, has forced hundreds of people to flee villages and beaches. The coastguard has deployed boats to evacuate people, and authorities have asked more to leave their villages. Fires are common in Greece, but hotter summers have turned the country into a wildfire hotspot.
More than 30,000 people have been evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes due to a wildfire that has been raging for the past 5 days. The coastguard has deployed more than 30 private boats to evacuate at least 2,000 people from the beaches near the areas of Kiotari and Lardos in the south-east of the island, while an operation is underway to evacuate around 600 people from the beaches of Kiotari and Gen.
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Greek authorities have asked 1,000 more people to leave their villages of Pefki, Lindos and Kalathos amidst the wildfire which the firefighters have struggled to contain. The firefighters have air-water bombs along with reinforcements from Slovakia.
"This is not a fire that will be over tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It'll be troubling us for days." Greek fire service spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis said while speaking to Skai TV.
Greek authorities have arranged buses to take people to safety but some people had to walk in areas where fire had cut off access to roads. They have also created makeshift accommodation for the evacuated people in gyms, schools and hotel conference rooms while government officials are also travelling to Rhodes to assist the situation.
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The Greek Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that it had asked its crisis management unit to facilitate the evacuation of foreigners wishing to leave the country. Meanwhile, crowds of tourists can be seen walking along a road with their luggage as part of the ongoing evacuation process, with smoke visible in the background.
"We had set up firebreaks around the village of Laerma last night, but a 180-degree change of the winds this morning helped the fire grow much bigger across many kilometres ... reaching a tourist area," Deputy mayor of Rhodes Konstantinos Taraslias said while speaking to Open TV.
Greece is battling dozens of forest fires that have now spread to mountainous areas, while the country is in the midst of a raging heatwave that has seen temperatures soar above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for the past 11 days. Meteorologists have warned that it could be the longest hot spell Greece has ever experienced.
Civil protection authorities said there was a very high risk of wild fires on Rhodes and other Greek islands on Sunday due to the heatwave, which could see temperatures soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).