Wildfires in Greece burn for days, more tourists expected to fly out

25 July 2023 - 10:03 By Reuters
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Crowds wait to be evacuated from Rhodes as wildfires burn in this video screengrab obtained from social media on July 22 2023.
Crowds wait to be evacuated from Rhodes as wildfires burn in this video screengrab obtained from social media on July 22 2023.
Image: Instagram rhodes.rodos

Greece battled to contain wildfires on the island of Rhodes for a seventh day on Tuesday as hundreds of tourists who had been forced to evacuate in previous days were expected to fly back to their countries.

About 20,000 people had to leave homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend when the inferno that began a week ago spread and reached coastal resorts on the island's southeast after charring swathes of land and damaging buildings.

More than 2,000 holidaymakers returned home by plane on Monday, and more repatriation flights were expected on Tuesday. Tour operators also cancelled upcoming trips.

Greece is often hit by wildfires during the summer but climate change has led to more extreme heatwaves across southern Europe, raising concerns that tourists will stay away.

Hundreds of firefighters, helped by forces from Turkey and Slovakia, battled to tame blazes close to the villages of Gennadi and Vati in the southeast of Rhodes as the fires resurged in hot, windy conditions.

Wildfires also raged on the island of Corfu, off the west cost of Greece, and Evia island, near the capital Athens.

“The fires have rekindled across the country but no settlements are threatened for now,” a fire brigade official told Reuters.

The Greek islands are popular with holidaymakers from around Europe in the summer, particularly Britons and Germans.

TUI, one of the world's largest tour operators, said it was cancelling trips to Rhodes through to Friday and offering free cancellations or rebookings to other destinations. It said it had 39,000 customers on Rhodes as of Sunday evening.

The Dutch foreign ministry has issued a travel warning for Rhodes, Corfu and Evia.

Greece has seen very high temperatures in recent weeks and the mercury was forecast to rise again up to Wednesday, exceeding 44ºC in some areas.

Civil protection authorities warned of extreme risk of fires in Rhodes and on the island of Crete on Tuesday.

Tourism accounts for 18% of Greece's output and one in five jobs. On Rhodes and many other Greek islands, reliance on tourism is even greater.


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