Greece battled to contain wildfires on the island of Rhodes for a seventh day, as hundreds of tourists who had been forced to evacuate in previous days were expected to fly back to their countries
Some 20,000 people had to leave homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend as the inferno that began a week ago spread and reached coastal resorts on the verdant island's southeast, after charring swathes of land and damaging buildings.
Hundreds of firefighters, helped by forces from Turkey and Slovakia, battled to tame the blazes close to the villages of Gennadi and Vati in the southeast of Rhodes as the wildfires resurged in hot, windy conditions. The Greek islands are popular with sunseeking holidaymakers from around Europe in the summer, particularly Britons and Germans., one of the world's largest tour operators, has said it was cancelling trips to Rhodes through Friday and offering free cancellations or rebookings to other destinations. It said it had 39,000 customers on Rhodes as of Sunday evening.
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