A massive wildfire on the southeastern coast of the Greek island of Rhodes has led to the evacuation of thousands of tourists from three hotels, which were later damaged by the flames.
The fire, which started on Tuesday morning, continued to spread rapidly due to strong winds and extreme temperatures. Residents in several villages were also urged to evacuate to safer areas. Altogether, about 30,000 people are trying to be evacuated.
- UPDATE easyJet will be operating two repatriation flights tomorrow (Monday) from Rhodes to Gatwick using an A320 and an A321 aircraft totalling 421 additional seats. This is in addition to the nine flights already scheduled between Rhodes and the UK. A further repatriation flight will be operated on Tuesday.
TUI flights from Bournemouth Airport and holidays to Rhodes have been cancelled. TUI and Jet2 Holidays have made the decisions while the Foreign Office monitors the situation in Greece.
Ten Canadair aircraft and eight helicopters are fighting the fire.
TUI Nordic has decided to evacuate around 80 Swedish guests near the popular tourist town of Lindos to other parts of the island.
Still no contact from Easyjet, we have been given a €4.50 voucher. Some passengers were put onto a plane and sat there in 40C for 30 minutes only to be told the diverted flight to Athens was cancelled… the most appalling conditions from @easyJet @TimesRadio #rhodes pic.twitter.com/R09p6yov9O
— ben Wright (@benWrig49201900) July 23, 2023
Hundreds of Brits were forced to spend last night in Rhodes airport after wildfires prevented them from getting to their hotels.
Tour operators have told charter flights to arrive empty into Rhodes to evacuate passengers.