Some 19,000 people have been evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes as wildfires continued burning for a sixth day on three fronts, Greek authorities said on Sunday.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection said it was "the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country."
"There were lots of people in Gennadi sent from the hotels -- many in just swimsuits having been told to leave everything in the hotel," he told PA. "As night fell, we could see the fire on the top of the hills in Kiotari. They said all the hotels were on fire." Kotiadis said he and other travel agents sent buses to the island's southeast to pick up evacuated tourists. They had to go the long way around, since the road running down Rhodes' eastern side was blocked in places.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that personnel were on their way to Rhodes to set up a help desk at Rhodes International Airport for visitors who have lost their travel documents. The weather remains hot in the Mediterranean country on Sunday. Before midday, temperatures had already reached 38 C . Winds were low but are notoriously variable in Rhodes, as in other Greek islands.
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