Plane fighting wildfires in Evia crashes
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Croatia is battling wildfires as thousands of tourists have fled Rhodes and Corfu amid blazes ravaging Greece.
A firefighting plane is dropping water on a mountainside in Župa Dubrovačka in Croatia after a wildfire broke out last night.
Almost 100 firefighters are on the scene and several vehicles, according to reports.
It comes as 20,000 people had to leave homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend as the inferno that began a week ago spread, while over 2,000 holidaymakers returned home by plane on Monday.
After the blaze in Rhodes prompted “the biggest evacuation” in Greek history, civil protection authorities warned of “extreme risk” of wildfires on the island of Crete, while around 2,500 people have already been evacuated from Corfu, which has been enduring dozens of blazes.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament on Monday the country was “at war” and said on Tuesday the next days would be difficult, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday.
Michael Gove going on holiday to Greek island currently being evacuated
Michael Gove is going to Evia in a week despite Greek authorities evacuating parts of the island.
The housing secretary is visiting the island, off the eastern coast of mainland Greece, after it became caught up in the “nightmare” wildfires engulfing the country.
Mr Gove told Sky News: “I am planning to go to Greece in just over a week’s time.” He added that he was visiting Evia.
Asked whether he was worried about the raging fires, Mr Gove said: “No, I am not.
“I think it’s absolutely right that individuals should be able to go to Greece to enjoy their holidays,” Mr Gove added.
Archie Mitchell reports:
Arsonists behind Corfu’s devastating wildfires as Greece ‘at war'
Arsonists are being blamed for devastating wildfires that have swept through the Greek island of Corfu.
Corfu mayor Yorgos Mahimaris claimed on Monday that an arsonist started the fires which have sparked mass evacuations.
Mr Mahimaris came to the conclusion after visiting three locations where fires broke out on Mount Pantokratoras.
Oliver Pritchard-Jones reports:
Where are the Italy wildfires as temperatures rise to 47.6C on Sicliy?
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Videos and photos show the fires ravaging the island holiday destination, including two of the main airports at Catania and Palermo.
Flames also threatened the ancient archaeological site of Segesta, which had to be closed temporarily to check for any damage.
Lucy Skoulding reports:
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ICYMI: Palermo airport shut due to raging wildfire
‘The smoke blocked out the sun like an eclipse’
John Rennie, 49, a project manager from Southport, was catching a flight to Manchester with his wife Marie-Claire from Rhodes Airport as he recalled the smoke from the fires blocking out the sun like an eclipse.
The couple had travelled to Lindos on Saturday, a day before road access to the village was closed off due to high winds fanning the flames in unpredictable and devastating ways.
Despite seeing the thick, noxious smoke already “covering the sun” on Saturday, they said that they were ultimately only affected in a minimal way by power outages and water shortages.
Minimal, at least, in comparison with their host at Kremasti, whose family members lived in the area ravaged by the blaze, which tore through two of their homes.
“He was helping as a volunteer. There seems to have been a lot of community involvement, there seems to be a big community circle on the island helping each other,” Mr Rennie told The Independent.
People ‘pushed and shoved’ in water as they boarded rescue boats, says tourist
A mother said people were “pushing and shoving” in the water as they tried to clamber aboard rescue boats as fires raged on Rhodes.
Claire Pickett, her husband Golan Lambranzi and their two-year-old daughter Alice were evacuated from their hotel in Rhodes at about 7pm on Saturday night and taken in a truck to a nearby beach. A “military boat” then picked them up and took them to safety.
After arriving at Gatwick Airport on Tuesday evening, Ms Pickett, 37, of Sidcup, south-east London, told the PA news agency: “We could see the smoke all day coming from the hills but they said if it comes over the hills you may have to go home, and then once it got dark we could see fire on the hill.
“They knocked on the door and said pack a bag, you need to leave the hotel. No-one really knew what was going on. Everyone was trying to grab bags. It was chaos trying to get on the boats but I think that’s because people were scared. They were saying, ‘Don’t worry, we will take everybody’. By now it was probably 11, 12 at night.
“And then boats started to turn up but they were just local people, some were tiny boats, some were bigger boats. And then there was army boats. And it was just the case of jump on any boat you can.”
She added: “You just want to protect your children but she was good, she was in her pram, she fell asleep. The scariest bit was getting on to the first boat because you are just in the water and people were pushing and shoving, so it was just, we’ve got children, let us on the boat. But once I was on the boat I was fine.”
Ms Pickett said: “The locals were amazing, they came out in the night with the boats, they were offering food, drinks to everyone. We got this boat to the north of Rhodes, we didn’t know where we were going. Because we had a child they took us straight on a coach and we ended up in a school on the floor. They (gave us) sleeping bags, nappies, wipes for the babies, the locals were amazing.”
She added: “It was close enough that you could see it (the fire). It was smoky, it was hot, hot air blowing. I personally never thought I was going to die, I wasn’t worried about that. I was glad they evacuated us. It was scary, we didn’t know where we were going or what was happening, but I never feared for my life. It wasn’t nice but they did well in what was a chaotic situation.”
‘You still want to go on holiday at the end of the day,’ say British tourists travelling to Rhodes
Hugh and Catriona, two 21-year-old university students at Southampton and Bath, and Paul, a 51-year-old teacher were both travelling as part of a family of six – having previously been forced to cancel a trip together to Rhodes during Covid.
“To be fair it has been quite a stressy two or three days, but we are quite north in the island so hopefully aren’t affected,” said Hugh. “There’s moral issues isn’t there, but you still want to go on holiday at the end of the day. Maybe [we’re] being a little bit selfish, but oh well.”
Paul said he had been speaking to one hotelier in the south who told him that “the damage hasn’t been very extensive and as soon as the authorities allow them to they’re ready to open the business again”.
Asked if they felt prepared were things to take a turn for the worse, Hugh added: “Not really, no. You take the risk. We understand that it’s a risk going on holiday, but we want to go on holiday, so [we’re] maybe putting that to the back of the mind a little bit.”
Joking that they “called the board together” for a meeting late at 11pm last night, the family said they decided to see whether their plane was cancelled or not.
“You can’t make a concrete decision when you don’t know what’s going on,” said Hugh, with a van booked to take them to the airport at 4am putting further pressure on them to decide whether to take the trip, which marked the first time they had all been away together in at least three years.
Noting that “there’s more [people] than I thought on the flight”, Paul added: “A lot of people haven’t had a choice, have they? Because if you’ve booked a package and it’s been cancelled, it’s out of your hands. Whereas we’ve booked separately, so our flights weren’t affected.”
Flames burn a forest in Vati village, on the Aegean Sea island of Rhodes, southeastern Greece
‘As long as we get a holiday, that’s all that matters'
Rosie, a 32-year-old office manager, and Alex a gas engineer, were travelling also travelling to Kallithea with their son Finlay, aged 11, for a holiday they had booked in April.
“I think we’re one of the lucky ones, aren’t we,” said Rosie, before Alex interjected: “Well, hopefully yeah, we’ll see.”
Having both been nervous over the past few days, Rosie said: “Up until last night, it was like ‘are we going, are we not?’” But after speaking to their holiday rep and a friend who works for easyJet who “said half of Rhodes is absolutely fine, there’s no smoke, nothing”, they felt reassured enough to travel.
“There’s no point not [going]. If it’s s*** when you get out there … it’s only the way back that’s going to be drama. Getting on a plane that’s not going to be our plane about three days later,” Alex said, prompting laughter, with Rosie adding: “As long as we get a holiday, that’s all that matters.”
He said he was mainly nervous for Finlay at first, adding: “But life goes on, doesn’t it. And no one’s died out there. It’s different if people have died, but no one’s died out there so why not take the risk? Simple as that.”
Alex added: “The media tell you what they want to show you to put people off. Showing people at the airport with ash all over their suitcases, that’s from people who were clearly near the fire.”
Wildfires have burned in parts of Greece
British tourists explain why they are still holidaying in Greece
“We were absolutely [worried],” said Richard Hamilton, a 54-year-old company director from Guernsey, who was travelling with his daughter, who had been taking part in a golf competition in Winchester. The pair were meeting the rest of their family at Kallithea, who arrived there the night it “actually kicked off”.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on the news and everything, but it’s really difficult because it’s quite a big island. For us in the UK, you forget how big it is .... We’ve been really careful, we’ve got a close friend who’s kept an eye on it for us, so we’re not too concerned at all.”
Those travelling on easyJet flight 8229 all appeared to be staying in the north of the island, however, and felt conditions were safe enough to travel there and take their chances despite the “nightmarish” reports of people fleeing miles along beaches on the island to escape walls of flame just days earlier.
Noting that their family already in Kallithea “would have come home if they were worried”, Mr Hamilton said he hoped they would be able to relax over their eight-day stay, adding: “It’s going to be hot there but it seems like everything is okay, so we’ll see how we go when we get there.
“The airport might be a bit chaotic but apart from that it should be fine.”
Richard Hamilton’s family members have been in Kallithea for three days
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL2dyZWVjZS13aWxkZmlyZXMtcmhvZGVzLWNvcmZ1LWxhdGVzdC1uZXdzLWIyMzgxMjI3Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5
2023-07-26 01:45:00Z
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