As wildfires rage on the Greek island of Rhodes for the seventh day, more than 2,000 holidayers have been evacuated on Monday (July 24th). Upcoming trips have been cancelled by tour operators as fires remain out of control on Tuesday (July 25th).
Reuters reports that even as repatriation flights continue into Tuesday, the nation’s Civil Protection authority warned that almost every part of Greece remains in the grip of a record-breaking heatwave, and that the threat of further blazes remains high.
The Dutch foreign ministry has issued a travel warning for Rhodes, and the nearby islands of Corfu and Evia, that have also seen wildfires break out in recent days.
Over the weekend, in Rhodes, some 20,000 people were forced to leave their homes and hotels as the “inferno” that began last Tuesday reached the coastal resorts on the island’s southeast over the weekend.
The Greek islands, as per Reuters, are popular with sun seeking European tourists, mostly from Britain and Germany.
TUI, which is one of the world’s largest food operators, announced that it was cancelling trips to the island on Friday. In lieu, it offered rebooking to other locations and free cancellations.
Talking to Reuters, fire brigade spokesperson Ioanis Artopios said that “Firefighting forces have not stopped operating since Tuesday.”
“Crews have been heading from Athens to replace their colleagues… they are working in very tough conditions amid extreme heat,” added Artopios.
As per the spokesperson, on Monday, hundreds of people were also evacuated from areas other than the southeast coastal resort areas, seven firefighting aircraft would continue to battle the flames until nightfall.
In addition, Greek coastguards vessels have been patrolling the coastline, evacuating tourists by the sea.
As per the Greek government, authorities are carrying out the largest evacuation ever undertaken in the nation.
“For the next few weeks, we must be on constant alert. We are at war. We will rebuild what we lost, we will compensate those who were hurt,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament, as quoted by Reuters.
“The climate crisis is already here, it will manifest itself everywhere in the Mediterranean with greater disasters,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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