Almost 20,000 people have fled their homes on the Greek island of Rhodes as wildfires remain “out of control”
By Thomas Mackintosh, Sean Seddon & Andre Rhoden-Paul
BBC News
Hundreds of holidaymakers have landed back in the UK following wildfires on Rhodes, with more repatriation flights set to take place.
As many as 10,000 Britons are estimated to be on the Greek island – part of which has been ravaged by fierce fires.
It has forced many holidaymakers to sleep in schools and sports centres.
Rishi Sunak has urged people to remain in touch with tour operators, some of which have begun sending flights to bring people back to the UK.
Throughout Monday, swathes of passengers arrived on flights from Rhodes into airports including Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham and Bristol.
But, thousands of Brits remain stuck waiting for flights home – including two newly-weds from Glasgow who described being on Rhodes as “being thrown into a disaster film”.
Azadeh Moshiri says some people have been sleeping at the airport.
Six Foreign Office staff members and four British Red Cross responders have been sent to Rhodes International Airport to help liaise with Greek authorities and travel operators.
The Foreign Office has not advised against going to Rhodes, although it does say if you are planning to travel to any areas affected by wildfires, to check with your travel operator or hotel first – a decision Downing Street has defended.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The current situation is impacting on a limited area in Rhodes and whilst it’s right to keep it under review, and it’s possible that the advice may change, we do not want to act out of proportion to the situation on the ground.”
EasyJet and Tui have cancelled outbound package holidays to Rhodes until Saturday and Friday respectively.
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.
What are holiday companies doing to help?
- Tui operated three “dedicated flights” back from Rhodes overnight; a fourth is due to arrive on Monday night and a fifth is scheduled for Tuesday morning. All Tui flights to the island have been cancelled up to Friday, but customers currently in Rhodes can return on their intended flights home. All outbound flights for customers travelling to impacted hotels up to and including on Sunday have also been cancelled. All customers due to travel on cancelled flights will receive full refunds. Tui said 300 members of staff were on the affected part of the island.
- EasyJet said 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 on Monday night, which will return to Manchester, Leeds Bradford and Birmingham. All Jet2 flights and holidays to Rhodes have been cancelled up to and including Sunday. 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. BA has put a larger aircraft on the next flight from the island to accommodate those who need to return earlier.
- 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.
Daniel and Luna Rolfe arrived on Rhodes for their honeymoon over the weekend, but said they were taken straight from the airport to an evacuation centre despite being reassured by Tui it was safe to travel.
Mr Rolfe, 25, told BBC News they later found out their accommodation in the Lindos area of Rhodes had been evacuated twice due to thick smoke.
The Glaswegian 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.”
Daniel and Luna Rolfe are among thousands displaced on Rhodes
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.”
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.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Kyriakos told parliament on Monday more than 80 wildfires have broken out across the country. The European Union has sent extra firefighters to help.
“We are at war and are exclusively geared towards the fire front,” Mr Mitsotakis said as he warned Greece faces “another three difficult days ahead” before high temperatures are forecast to ease.
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 the largest operation of its kind they have carried out.
Image source, Reuters
Wind coupled with very dry conditions and high temperatures meant wildfires spread across the island on Saturday
Helen Rendell, 66, and her husband, Ray, 72, had to evacuate their home in Lardos and head to Rhodes Town.
The couple, originally from Chelmsford, told the BBC their home has survived the fierce fires but other locals were not so lucky.
“The impact on the people here is terrible,” Mrs Rendell said. “It’s awful.”
Image source, Helen Rendell
Helen Rendell described the Glystra beach as a “skeleton” with “scorch marks on the sand”
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.
Image source, Reuters
Tourists have sheltered in stadiums and schools after being evacuated from the path of wildfires
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.
It is unclear what started the fires but extreme temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds across Greece have aided their spread.
Chariton Koutscouris, North Corfu’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”.
Wildfires spread on hills near the resort of Lardos
Emma Brennan, a spokesperson for ABTA – the travel association trade body whose members are travel agents and tour operators – said people in the resorts of Lindos, Pefkos and Kalathos in Rhodes have had their evacuation order removed and can safely return.
She told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “Travel companies will be liaising with their accommodation providers to ensure that they are ready to receive customers, and customers will be notified accordingly.”
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.
Officials estimate 19,000 have been evacuated by land and sea with more people due to be evacuated from three villages – Pefki, Lindos, Kalathos
