Rhodes fires like being thrown into a disaster film – newly-weds

By Sean Seddon & Andre Rhoden-Paul

BBC News

Two newly-weds likened arriving in Rhodes on their honeymoon to “being thrown into a disaster film”.

Daniel and Luna Rolfe from Glasgow are among up to 10,000 UK nationals thought to be on the Greek island, which has been ravaged by wildfires.

Smaller evacuations have taken place in parts of Corfu and Evia in the last 24 hours.

Airlines are running rescue flights from Greece throughout Monday to bring people home.

Mr Rolfe, 25, said their holiday provider Tui assured them it was safe to travel – but they were taken straight from the airport to an evacuation centre.

He told BBC News they later found out their accommodation in the Lindos area of Rhodes had been evacuated twice due to thick smoke.

The couple, who paid nearly £4,000 for their trip, ended up sleeping on a school floor with other UK families.

He said: “It was packed. I couldn’t tell you how many people were there. We walked past quite a few rooms and they were all packed.”

The couple eventually managed to find an Airbnb for the night on Sunday, but they will have to leave it on Monday as it fully booked.

The graphic designer said: “We’ve been in the dark and we’re just figuring out what’s best for ourselves, because nothing is really being done.”

He added: “We’ve kind of been thrown into a disaster film. It’s been quite sad and seeing my wife upset has been really difficult, but we’re getting through it.”

Both EasyJet and Jet2 are planning to send repatriation flights to Rhodes on Monday, and some Tui customers returned on three dedicated flights overnight.

The Foreign Office has sent staff and British Red Cross responders to the island to help British holidaymakers. They will be based at Rhodes International Airport to help with travel documents, liaise with Greek authorities and travel operators.

Some tourists have been forced to flee hotels, abandon their belongings and sleep outside as fires which have already destroyed homes spread from the centre of the island towards resorts on its eastern coast.

• Tui operated three “dedicated flights” back from Rhodes overnight and all flights to the island have been cancelled up to Friday, but customers currently in Rhodes will return on their intended flights home. All customers due to travel on these flights will receive full refunds, Tui said.
• EasyJet announced it would operate two rescue flights with a total of 421 seats on Monday, and a third on Tuesday, in addition to its nine scheduled flights between Rhodes and the UK. The airline has cancelled package holidays to affected resorts in Rhodes up to and including Saturday. It is also “also contacting customers due to travel to the impacted resorts in Rhodes up to 10 August to discuss their options”.
• Jet2 is running four repatriation flights, all due to leave tonight, which will return to Manchester, Leeds Bradford and Birmingham. All flights and holidays to Rhodes have been cancelled, but aircraft with no customers on board will be flown there in order to bring people back.
• British Airways said its flights to Rhodes were running as normal, but customers needing to return early could change their flight for free, and those not wishing to travel there in the next week from the UK could postpone their flight.
• Thomas Cook said it had cancelled some holidays to affected areas, with full refunds offered. It added some customers booked to travel to other parts on Monday and Tuesday were being contacted with the option to cancel and be refunded if they wished.

Greece has seen searing heat in recent weeks, with temperatures exceeding 40C (104F) across the country, and fires have blazed for nearly a week in some areas.

Rhodes has been battling fires fanned by strong winds since Tuesday and roughly 19,000 people have been evacuated so far in what Greek authorities say is largest operation of its kind they have carried out.

Around 2,500 people have been evacuated from Corfu, some 1,027km (670 miles) miles away, a fire department spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Boats were used to rescue people from beaches but officials have told the BBC the situation is less serious than on Rhodes.

Speaking at Birmingham Airport after returning from Rhodes, James Jones said he and his family dumped their luggage as they fled after hotel staff came to their room and said “get to the beach”.

They had to dump their luggage on the sand while awaiting rescue from the coastguard, he said, adding: “As you looked behind you it was coming over the mountains, the fire was just moving so fast, it was horrific,” Mr Jones said.

Emma Darwell-Stone, who was travelling with her young daughter Amelia, said they walked two hours to escape the fire and smoke.

She said there was no warning the fire was approaching, adding: “The hotel was completely normal until the moment we were told to run to the beach.”

Olga Kefalo O-Gianni, the Greek tourism minister, told the BBC the situation on Corfu is “not alarming” and said tourists planning on visiting parts of Corfu or Rhodes not impacted by the wildfires should still travel.

Image source, Reuters

Emergency services are also tackling fires on Evia, the second largest of the Greek islands, and some areas are being evacuated, the state news agency ANA-MPA reports.

A national holiday due to take place across Greece on Monday has been cancelled.

The UK Foreign Office issued updated travel advice for Greece on Sunday, warning “the situation can change quickly, so you should stay up to date with official advice” and to call 112 if they are in danger.

They advise British nationals in Rhodes should contact their travel operator in the first instance about rescheduling flights.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said between seven and ten thousand British holidaymakers are on Rhodes, and the government is regularly reviewing travel advice.

It is unclear what started the fires but extreme temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds across Greece have aided their spread.

Chariton Koutscouris, the area’s head of tourism, said arson was suspected and the fire department had been warned someone was planning on deliberately starting a fire.

He said the blazes were down to a “group of people” who “get pleasure out of this with the pain of the other people”.

Airspace remains open and, while firms are cancelling package holidays, most flights are still running in order to allow people to travel to safe parts of the islands, or return home.

Image source, Reuters

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