ATHENS: A wildfire which has been raging on the Greek island of Rhodes for five days forced hundreds of people to flee affected villages and beaches by land and sea on Sunday, authorities said. Coastguard vessels and more than 30 private boats evacuated at least 2,000 people, including tourists, from beaches close to the areas of Kiotari and Lardos in the southeastern part of the island, coastguard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told Skai television. He said an operation was ongoing to evacuate about 600 people from beaches in Kiotari and Gennadi towards Plimmiri.
Authorities have also urged about 1,000 people to leave the villages of Pefki, Lindos and Kalathos as flames approached, fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. Firefighters, backed by air water bombers and reinforcements by Slovakia, struggled with new outbreaks of the wildfire, which was fanned by strong winds.
Greek television showed crowds of tourists with their luggage walking along a road as part of an evacuation operation, while smoke could be seen 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,” Konstantinos Taraslias, a deputy mayor of Rhodes, told. –Agencies
