30,000 people flee a degenerate forest fire in Rhodes – also Swiss

On the south side of the Greek holiday island of Rhodes, a fire broke out on Saturday, which quickly degenerated into an uncontrolled forest fire.

First a few hundred tourists were evacuated from their hotels, then the state radio spoke of about 8,000 people and now it is clear: about 30,000 people are fleeing the flames on Rhodes.

Hotels on the coast of Kiotari, about 55 kilometers south of the city of Rhodes, were initially affected. That reports the state radio. “It is the most difficult fire we have to fight,” said a spokesman for the Greek fire service.

People then left their hotels on foot – along with all their belongings.

Wind force six is ​​blowing in the Rhodes region. “The smoke is so heavy that it is difficult to breathe. People will be taken to the small town of Gennadi, from where they will be accommodated in other hotels,” Konstantinos Traraslias, deputy mayor of Rhodes, told Athens news channel Skai.

As the government in Athens announced in the evening, eight people with breathing problems have been taken to hospital. Due to the change in wind direction, the fire turned towards the coast and surprised the fire brigade, according to a spokesman.

Hundreds of Rhodes residents volunteered to help the tourists, state television reported. The German travel organization told the German press agency on Saturday evening: “In total, there are currently about 20,000 German holidaymakers from tour operators on the island, and only a small number are affected by the evacuations.”

Since last Sunday, Watson user Naomi* has also been on holiday in Rhodes, more specifically in a hotel in the small town of Gennadi. Where the evacuated tourists were taken from the regions affected by the fire.

But Gennadi was too close to the forest fire for her. «We didn’t feel comfortable in the city anymore because we could see the flames from the hotel. We therefore arranged a taxi to the west side of the island on our own,” Naomi writes by email. They took videos of the ride, showing how close the smoke was.

She writes that they left Gennadi before all other evacuated tourists were taken there. “I am a bit surprised that the evacuated tourists have not been moved further away. Of course I don’t have the knowledge to properly assess the situation,” she writes. Nevertheless, she hopes that the fires will be extinguished quickly and that residents and tourists will be safe again. “I also want to underline that I am sure that the fire service is doing everything it can.”

The fire service again warned of the great danger of forest fires. “We have even more difficult times ahead of us,” a spokesman said on state television on Saturday. The fires in the Athens area and on the Peloponnese peninsula have been brought under control. But they read over and over because everything has dried up, they said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Malta have arrived in Greece to strengthen the fire brigade and fight the flames. France, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel and Jordan are participating in the firefighting efforts with firefighting planes and helicopters, the Greek Civil Protection announced. According to the meteorologists, the heat wave will continue with small fluctuations in the coming week. A new high is expected on Wednesday with temperatures around 46 degrees in southern Greece. (km/sda/dpa)

*Name known to editors