Residents, tourists flee wildfire on Greece’s Rhodes island

Tourists stand in front of an information board at the airport's departure hall as evacuations are under way due to wildfires, on the Greek island of Rhodes, July 23, 2023 [Will Vassilopoulos/ AFP]

Residents and tourists have fled hot spots on the Greek island of Rhodes as firefighters, backed by water jets and helicopters, battle a blaze that sparked the country’s largest-ever fire evacuation.

Wind gusts of up to 49km/h (30mph) were complicating efforts to bring the flames under control on Sunday.