Greece mounts mass evacuation from wildfire-hit Rhodes

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Greece mounted its largest-ever island evacuation this weekend, moving close to 19,000 people on Rhodes to escape wildfires that have prompted some tour operators to cancel flights to the popular destination.

The evacuees were rescued from resorts and villages in the path of the fires on Saturday and Sunday and offered makeshift accommodation in schools, conference centres and indoor stadiums, according to Greek authorities.

The sixth consecutive day of wildfires on Rhodes came as a second heatwave hit the region in less than a week, with temperatures expected to reach 45 degrees in certain parts of the country on Sunday, according to the Greek meteorological service.

The unprecedented evacuation operation this weekend involved Greek coastguard vessels and about 40 private boats moving around 3,000 people from the worst-hit southeastern part of the island to safer areas.

“We have between 4,000 and 5,000 people now accommodated at different structures,” Athanasios Virinis, a vice mayor of Rhodes told Greek television on Sunday, calling for donations of essentials.

Schools were flooded overnight with evacuees and tourists who had just arrived on the island only to find their hotels and villas were unsafe. “There are people who arrived with flights in the middle of the night, and we take them to schools,” Vyrinis said. “We don’t have the infrastructure to host so many.”

The evacuation took place from 12 villages and several hotels, with no casualties. According to government officials, the area affected accounts for about 10 per cent of the island’s tourist accommodation.

Passengers flying to Rhodes on Saturday night were found in evacuation centres shortly after they arrived on the island. “Why did you fly us and hundreds of other people in when hotels are cut off by wildfires? Totally irresponsible,” said Jess Bailey, a British tourist in an angry tweet addressed to tour operator Tui.

Tour operators Jet2 and Tui cancelled flights departing for Rhodes on Sunday. “We appreciate how distressing and difficult it is for customers who have been evacuated,” Tui said on Sunday. “The safety and well-being of our customers and teams remains our top priority.”

Jet2 cancelled all flights and holidays due to depart to Rhodes up until July 30, saying: “We believe this is the right thing to do for everyone.”

EasyJet said its flights to Rhodes were still operating but that passengers due to fly from now until July 29 could transfer to a later date or receive a flight voucher, while some package holidays had been cancelled.

“We know the situation for many currently in Rhodes is very difficult, so we are doing all we can to help customers and provide assistance,” easyJet said on Sunday.

Ryanair said on Sunday morning its flights to the island were still “operating as normal and unaffected by the forest fires”.

Greek officials said the mass evacuation was made possible after the country introduced a system in 2019 that sends an emergency notification to all mobile phones in an affected area.