Fire in Rhodes causes "largest evacuation operation in Greece ».
Sylvie Claire / July 24, 2023
Rescuers carried out "the largest evacuation operation ever carried out in Greece" on the tourist island of Rhodes, where a violent fire was raging on Sunday, for the sixth consecutive day, police spokeswoman Konstantia Dimoglidou told AFP.
Some 30,000 people were forced to leave their homes or hotels on Saturday due to the fire in the east of this island in the Dodecanese archipelago, at a time when the tourist season is in full swing. They were sheltered in gymnasiums, schools and conference centers for the night.
According to the police, quoted by the Greek news agency ANA, some 19,000 people were evacuated as a precautionary measure, of whom 16,000 were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea.
A total of twelve localities were evacuated, including Lindos, one of the island's main tourist attractions with its hilltop Acropolis.
The fight to contain the fire will take several more days, according to the authorities.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened a crisis unit in Athens to facilitate the repatriation of foreign tourists.