By Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou
ATHENS A wildfire raging on the Greek island of Rhodes forced thousands of tourists and island residents to shelter in schools and indoor stadiums on Sunday after they were evacuated from coastal villages and resorts.
Thousands spent the night outdoors, tour operators Jet2 and TUI cancelled flights departing for Rhodes with more holidaymakers, while Greek authorities said it was among the biggest evacuation operations the country had conducted.
Coastguard vessels and dozens of private boats carried more than 2,000 tourists from beaches on Saturday after the wildfire was fanned by strong winds and rekindled along the southeastern part of island popular for beaches and ancient ruins.
Many fled their hotels when huge flames reached the seaside villages of Kiotari, Gennadi, Pefki, Lindos, Lardos and Kalathos. Large groups gathered in the streets under a red sky waiting to be taken to safety. Smoke hung heavy over a deserted beach.
"We have between 4,000 and 5,000 people now accommodated at different structures," Thanasis Virinis, a vice mayor of Rhodes told Mega television on Sunday, calling for donations of essentials such as mattresses and bedclothes.
One government official told Reuters 19,000 people had been moved away from their homes and hotels, 3,000 of them by boats. Many of them were assisted by police. There have been no reports of casualties.
The Greek foreign ministry was setting up a help desk at Rhodes airport to help organise tourists' exit from the island, including for those who have lost travel documents, the British embassy in Athens said.
Tour operator Jet2 said five planes due to take more tourists to the island would instead fly empty and would take people home on their scheduled flights.
The Greek civil protection ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More than 250 fire fighters were trying to contain the flames, assisted by 15 aircraft, state television said.
FIRE IN LINDOS
Volunteers fought to extinguish a blaze that blackened the hillside and charred buildings near Lindos, one of the island's most-visited sites and famed for an acropolis perched on a massive rock within medieval walls.
Civil protection has warned of a very high risk of wildfires on Sunday in almost half of Greece, where temperatures were expected to hit 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Heatwaves across Southern Europe and many parts of the world could last until August.
Fires are common in Greece but hotter, drier and windy summers have brought more of them in recent years. Climate change means heatwaves will become more frequent, an advisor to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Saturday.
On Rhodes, the evacuees, including residents from the villages, were housed at hotels, indoor stadiums, conference centers and school buildings, fire brigade spokesman Ioannis Artopoios told Skai radio.
"They have been given food, water and medical help," he said, adding that the Greek foreign ministry will assist foreigners who want to leave the country at the Rhodes airport.
Firefighters, backed by aircraft that dropped water, battled three fronts on Sunday, setting up firebreaks to prevent flames from spreading to a dense forest or threatening more residential areas.
The fire has scorched swathes of forest and several buildings since breaking out in a mountainous area on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou; Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
