Terrified British tourists stranded in Rhodes are urgently calling for help after wildfires caused thousands of them to be evacuated from their hotels.
Relatives are at a loss after hearing from family members who have been forced to flee their homes and have relied on overwhelmed local authorities for help. Over 30,000 people were evacuated from Rhodes yesterday.
Debbie Antione is desperate for help for her daughter Kelly Nicholls who has been forced to flee her hotel with her young family.
Ms Antoine said: “My daughter Kell, her husband and two young children and another family of four had to run for their lives outside the Princess Andriana Resort & Spa.”
“They walked for miles to escape and no one but the locals gave them drinks.”
Are you affected by the forest fires in Rhodes? Email: [email protected]
A fire-fighting plane drops water to put out a forest fire in the village of Kiotari, Rhodes
A father escorts his daughter to safety as hundreds of tourists are evacuated from Rhodes amid a spate of wildfires
Wildfire burns on a beach near Lindos on the island of Rhodes
As forest fires break out in Lindos on the Greek island of Rhodes, tourists queue up to be evacuated
Twitter user John Hughes captured video of the chaotic scenes as the wildfire rages across the island
“They haven’t had anything to eat since 9am Saturday morning.” I’ve tried all the emergency numbers and no one is there to help. You have come to a hotel but need to sleep on sunbeds.
“The hotel gave them towels and nothing else, no food or drink. They are literally stranded and lost everything walking in swimwear.’
Many tourists have been forced to seek shelter in schools and gyms while authorities consider how to get them to safety.
Mark Hunter and his 28-week pregnant partner were evacuated first to a ballroom at another hotel and then to a school in Afandou along with scores of other holidaymakers.
He said: “We were first alerted via the evacuation notification system on our phones.” The hotel informed us that this did not apply to us, but half an hour later the evacuation began.
“Pandemonism ensued as everyone was taken to a nearby hotel and taken to a sweltering function room.” “It was very disorganized in the hotels and there were quite a few angry and anxious people.”
Groups of holidaymakers were taken to a school in Afandou, Rhodes, while waiting for boats to pick them up from the island in the morning
Mark Hunter described suspenseful scenes in which many tourists were upset and upset by the chaotic nature of the evacuation
Elaine Kerr said her son and his girlfriend were staying at a resort on the island with another couple when they received an alert at 12am asking them to vacate their hotel.
She said: “Luckily for my son, they had hired a car when they arrived in Rhodes, so they packed up and drove to a safe place.”
“They have tried over 15 places to stay, but all of them are booked so they have to stay in their car at the moment.”
Janet McDonald told Mail Online: “My daughter and granddaughter were evacuated from the Princess Sun Hotel Kotari this morning.” They were told to walk for 50 minutes and then were dumped on a beach and left without food or water.
“Now it’s pitch black, her phone is broken and obviously the kids are desperate.”
Tourist Kieran Turner captured this view of Rhodes from his family’s campsite on the beach
“The Jet2 rep told them to ‘go this way’, then got in their car and drove off. It’s almost midnight and all they can see is the fires. Scary stuff and I’m a wreck.’
Another woman told The Mirror how her friend and family had to flee their hotel on foot in the sweltering heat and were stranded at the airport with no money and passports.
Eileen Lawton, her daughter Hannah Gormley and eight-year-old granddaughter Annabelle were also staying at the Princess Sun Hotel when the fire started.
Her friend Glynis Wall said hotel managers had evacuated and guests were having to wait for rescue buses, which “never showed up”.
“They said it was like pictures of a war zone,” Ms Wall said. “Everyone around them was panicking.” Children and babies were crying and mothers were trying to shield them from the smoke.”
Holidaymaker Emma Marsh said: “We are currently in Rhodes – we landed today only to be told that our hotel has burned down.” No one from the airline informed us before our departure.
Holidaymakers’ friends and family have desperately contacted the airlines after hearing stories of stranded passengers
The British embassy’s guidance included a hotline for Britons to request consular assistance
Tourists sit in the back of an open truck as they are evacuated during wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes
“The car we booked refused to take us anywhere… definitely a lesson to always book a package holiday!” We had to arrange a hotel for tonight and the insurance company is closed until Monday.
“I would definitely advise people not to fly to Rhodes for the next week.”
“The hotel we found has power outages every two minutes, no air conditioning because it takes too much power, and it’s just a nightmare.”
Fellow tourist Kieran Turner added: “My family and I are evacuees from the Rodos Princess Beach Hotel in Rhodes.” Information from the hotel is sparse and our airline Jet2 is nowhere to be seen except To around 6pm.
“I am currently camping on the beach with my wife, our six year old daughter and her two grandmothers.
“It is terrible what is happening to the people of Rhodes, but we feel completely let down by Jet2.”
Hundreds of tourists had to walk miles to get to safety on the Greek island of Rhodes
Tourists and locals have been guided to gyms, schools and hotel conference centers on the island, where they will stay while firefighters battle the blaze.
In addition, three passenger ferries were moored in Rhodes port to take the rescued.
For the past few days, the forest fire has been confined to the island’s mountainous center, but on Saturday it spread towards the coast in the central east of the island, thanks to winds, very high temperatures and dry conditions.
Tourists evacuated from their hotels took to social media to describe the horrific scenes but claimed they had received no support from tour operators.
Carolyn Clason, who was holidaying in Pefkos, told the Mail: “A lot of families with young children are scared.” Pefkos has just received a message from the Greek authorities telling us to evacuate, but nobody knows where or how to get there.
Three Coast Guard boats led more than 20 vessels in an emergency evacuation to rescue people from Rhodes
“The scene is chaotic, the beach is crowded.”
“Transfer buses have not been able to take arriving passengers to their locations due to road closures, which is clearly having a knock-on effect.”
“The ash from the fire is like a very full ashtray spilled on the floor.” Swimming pools are covered with thick ash and dust.
“We wish the rain you have at home got here.”
Members of the coast guard, armed forces and local authority employees used dozens of buses to help move people away from the fires, Rhodes Municipality official Teris Hatziioannou said.
Where the fires had cut off road access, some tourists had to walk to safety.
Panagiotis Dimelis, chairman of Archangelos village council, told Skai TV that many locals rushed to help the tourists.
“It’s an unprecedented situation for the island,” he added.
For the beach operation, the Coast Guard said three of its boats were leading more than 30 private vessels to pick up people from Kiotari and Lardos beaches in the east of the Mediterranean island.
According to the Coast Guard, a Greek Navy boat was also heading to the area to help.
Later on Saturday, fire department spokesman Yannis Artopoios told ERT that new evacuation orders had been issued for the villages of Gennadi and Kiotari towards Plimiri on the east side of the island.
Holidaymakers board a ship as a Rhodes beach is engulfed in smoke from nearby forest fires
Smoke billows from a forest fire on the Greek island of Rhodes
Twitter user Paul Kalburgi reported that he left the hotel with his children and was told by his youngest that he “doesn’t want to die”.
Entire forests on the island have been engulfed in raging wildfires over the past five days
Twitter user Paul Kalburgi wrote: “Currently we are stranded in #Rhodes fleeing the forest fires on foot – we left everything at the hotel and fled with towels on our faces.”
“My youngest just told me he doesn’t want to die. No news from any authorities. “Frightening situation here.”
John Hughes detailed the evacuation with his child and claimed holiday company Jet2 gave him little support.
He posted on Twitter: “Jet2 where are you?” No help, contact or guidance. Had to walk 4 miles in the heat with a 5 year old over dirt tracks in smoke and ash. No possessions. #jet2 #rhodes #lindosimperial’
User Volcaholic said there were scenes of “absolute chaos” as people walked away without their belongings.
They said “crowds of hundreds of tourists and locals are evacuating via roads to escape the runaway fires ravaging the island.”
Fire department spokesman Yannis Artopios said Saturday afternoon that residents of four towns had received evacuation text messages – two places telling them to move north-east and two others south-west.
Mr Artopios said more than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were on the ground, supported by three planes and five helicopters.
The squad includes 31 firefighters from Slovakia with five fire engines.
The main front of the fire is a triangle, with two points near the sea and one in the mountains.
The wildfire was confined to the island’s mountainous center but spread towards the coast of Rhodes on Saturday thanks to winds, very high temperatures and dry conditions
The forest fires have been raging for five days, and the authorities ordered an evacuation on Saturday
Pictured is an empty beach amid smoke billowing from a forest fire near Lindos
People try to extinguish a forest fire near Lindos on Rhodes island
Tourists were evacuated by boats near the village of Kiotari on the Greek island of Rhodes on Saturday
Hundreds of tourists have been forced to evacuate Rhodes as wildfires continue to ravage the Greek island after five days
Families enjoying the summer holidays were forced to pack their belongings in a hurry as evacuations took place in Rhodes, which was ravaged by wildfires
After fierce forest fires on Rhodes in the past five days, a house was razed to the ground
Firefighters put out a blaze in a yard on the Greek island of Rhodes
Even small fishing boats have been used to evict as many tourists as possible from the island as the island burns under scorching temperatures
Firefighters are seen near a forest fire on Rhodes island
The fires have wreaked havoc on the wildlife and landscape of Rhodes, which is said to be one of the most lush Greek islands
Around 40 Thomas Cook customers are in the most affected hotels in Lardos and Kiotari. The company says its remaining customers on the island live elsewhere and are unaffected by the current wildfire.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: “We are closely monitoring the forest fires in Rhodes and are in touch with our customers who are holidaying there.”
“Our teams are currently in regular contact with our holidaymakers on the island, as well as those about to leave, to discuss their options.”
A Jet2 spokesperson added: “We are aware of the rapidly evolving situation in Rhodes and our absolute priority is the health, safety and well-being of customers in the affected region.” Our on-site teams are working hard to follow the guidance of local authorities and we continue to bring more customer helpers to the region to provide further assistance despite the transport infrastructure challenges.
“We are asking all customers in the affected areas to follow the advice of both the local authorities and staff at their hotels who are acting on the advice of the authorities.”
“In addition to our team on the ground, we have established a dedicated team in the UK to help us coordinate our response and we have been sending out direct communications to keep customers informed.”
“We are constantly monitoring the situation and continue to make decisions in the best interests of our customers.”
Three Coast Guard vessels and one from the Army were seen evacuating people from two beaches.
Twenty private boats provided assistance and the Hellenic Navy sent one ship.
The Rhodes fire was the most dangerous of several active fires across Greece, Mr Artopios said.
The fire northwest of Athens and one near Sparta were easing, he said, although conditions, including temperatures expected to rise to 45C (113F) on Sunday and low humidity (below 15%) mean the danger is not over and more wildfires could erupt.
The fire service put almost all of the eastern part of the mainland and the islands of Euboea and Rhodes and much of the south-west in category five, the highest fire risk on Sunday.
There will be a brief lull in the heatwave on Monday, but it will pick up again on Tuesday and could last at least until Friday, weather forecasters said.
Firefighters from eight EU countries are either deployed or will be arriving soon, Artopios said.
Israel, Jordan and Turkey have also sent reinforcements, including air equipment.
Are you affected by the forest fires in Rhodes? Email: [email protected]