A weeklong wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes tore past defences Monday, forcing more evacuations, as three major fires raged elsewhere in the country fuelled by strong winds and successive heat waves.
The latest evacuations were ordered in south Rhodes after 19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved in buses and boats over the weekend out of the path of the fire that reached several coastal areas from nearby mountains.
Overnight, evacuations were also ordered on the western island of Corfu, where more than 2,000 people including tourists were moved to safety, on the island of Evia and in a mountainous area in the southern Peloponnese region. On Rhodes, the fire roared down mountain slopes, burning homes and cars and leaving livestock dead on the roadside as they tried to escape.
British tourist Kevin Evans was evacuated twice Saturday with his wife and three young children -- first from Kiotari to Gennadi, and then as the fire approached to the island's capital in the northeast, he told Britain's PA news agency. Greece is using a European Union satellite service to estimate the damage caused by the fire and to target resources. Photographs published online by the service showed a brown hourglass-shaped burn scar across the middle of the island.
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