Evacuation flights were “bringing back” Britons escaping the wildfire in Rhodes as a minister warned on Monday that the disaster must be a “wake-up call” on global warming.
Between 7,000 to 10,000 British citizens were believed to be on the Greek island hit by “toxic heat,” with fires blighting 10 to 20 per cent of it.
Some of them told of their fears as flames swept through swathes of the popular tourist destination, sparking chaos and a desperate race to safety.
The wildfire had been confined to the mountainous centre but, aided by winds, very high temperatures and dry conditions, it swept towards the coast on the central-eastern side.
It forced the evacuation of 19,000 people over the weekend as the inferno reached coastal resorts on the island’s south-eastern coast. “It was quite a bit of a struggle on the beach with the smoke,” said John Hope, a tourist from Manchester. Dan Jones, a sports teacher from Torquay, had to climb on to a fishing trawler with his sons on Saturday night, describing it as “the scariest moment” in his life.
Nursery worker Vicky Morris, 34, from Cheltenham, told The Sun her four-year-old daughter Cassie Bell had asked: “Are we going to die, Mummy?”
Rhodes deputy mayor Konstantinos Taraslias told state broadcaster ERT this morning: “We are in the seventh day of the fire and it hasn’t been controlled.”
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell stopped short of saying all British holidaymakers should get off the island. But he told Times Radio: “What we are telling people to do is keep in touch with their tourist company. That is the right advice. Aircraft, which were going to be full, are flying there empty and are bringing people back.”
Travel firm TUI on Monday said holidaymakers had returned to the UK from Rhodes on three flights. It added in a statement: “We’re now working hard to get everybody home safely, with our first passengers returning to the UK on three dedicated flights overnight and plans in place to get everyone affected back as soon as possible.
“We appreciate how distressing and difficult it’s been for those who have been evacuated and ask that they continue to follow the advice of the local authorities and keep in touch with the TUI reps who are present in all evacuation centres.”
Airline easyJet was operating two rescue flights totalling 421 seats on Monday and a third on Tuesday, in addition to its nine scheduled flights to the island.
Greek tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni insisted that only part of the island was affected by the blazes, 10 to 20 per cent of it. “Indeed it is the largest evacuation Greece has ever done and it happened in a matter of hours, but everyone is safe,” she said. Mr Mitchell stated that the crisis was “undoubtedly a wake-up call” on climate change.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We had, just a couple of weeks ago, the hottest day, on Monday, that the world has ever experienced. Those temperatures were then exceeded on the Wednesday for a second weekly record. And then on Thursday the third record in one week. The highest temperatures the planet has ever seen. Climate change is real. It is now. And it is essential that the world combats it.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “This toxic heat across southern Europe must act as a wake-up call.” Italy, Spain and other countries were on full alert for sweltering temperatures this week, and possibly new record highs.
In Rhodes, evacuated people have told of being forced to sleep with hundreds of others in schools, airports and sports centres across the island, while one tourist arrived to hear that the hotel she had booked had burned down.
Others have vented their frustrations at travel firms for their lack of information about how the wildfires will affect their holidays.
Asked on LBC about reports that representatives of some holiday firms operating on Rhodes “seem to have gone missing”, Mr Mitchell said: “Well that is a deplorable state of affairs and obviously we will be investigating all of that.” He added: “Virtually all the tour operators and holiday companies have sprung into action in the proper way and I hope that will continue.”
He suggested there were this morning no evacuations taking place on the Greek island of Corfu amid reports that 2,000 people had been moved overnight following fires in the north.
He told BBC Breakfast at 7.40am: “I can tell you that the information I had one minute before this interview started is that there are not any evacuations from Corfu.
“There had been movement of people overnight within Corfu but this morning they have been sent back to their earlier accommodation.”
