Greek authorities said forest fire A raging rage on the island of Rhodes forced hundreds to flee villages and beaches affected by the fire.
Coast guard vessels and more than 30 private boats evacuated at least 2,000 people, including tourists, from beaches near Kiotari and Lardos in the southeastern part of the island, Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told Sky TV.
For his part, the deputy mayor of Rhodes Konstantinos Taraslias announced that the people evacuated by the authorities are currently staying in a closed stadium and in hotels on the island. The Coast Guard said the tourists would be accommodated on three passenger ferries during the night.
“We erected fire barriers around the village of Lairma last night, but the wind change of 180 degrees this morning led to an increase in the size of the fire and its spread for kilometers … to a tourist area,” he told OpenTV.
Destruction of large areas of forests
Footage shown on Greek television showed long lines of tourists hauling their belongings as they walked down a road as part of the evacuation process, with smoke billowing in the background.
The fire has destroyed vast areas of forest since it broke out in a mountainous area on Tuesday. The Athens news agency reported that the fire damaged three hotels in the coastal village of Kyotari on Saturday.
The firefighting teams, which received reinforcements from Slovakia, are struggling in the face of new foci of the forest fire, which has been burning for five days and was fueled by strong winds. Water-dropping planes are involved in efforts to put out the fire.
And the civil protection authorities warned of the risk of forest fires breaking out on the island of Rhodes and other regions in Greece tomorrow, Sunday, amid expectations of temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius.
France 24/Reuters
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2023-07-23 07:13:38
