Huge fires have been plaguing Rhodes in Greece in recent days, leading to the evacuation of tens of thousands of locals and tourists.
Israelis in Rhodes who spoke to Israel Hayom said they were asked to walk for many kilometers in extremely hot weather, with flames a relatively short distance away and a heavy smell of smoke in the air. Now, there are reports of new fire hotspots in other tourist areas of the country.
Tourists evacuated from hotels in Rhodes due to the fire that broke out on the island, yesterday // Photo: Chen Farhi
The island of Evia, which is considered less well-known among Israeli tourists but is considered one of the most beautiful islands in Greece and the second largest in the country, is currently dealing with huge fires that cause the evacuation of entire villages. THE GOVERNOR TOLD ANA-MPA NEWS AGENCY: "IT IS DIFFICULT TO BREATHE, THE SMOKE IS VERY HEAVY AND THE FIRE IS SPREADING DUE TO THE STRONG WIND. The fire is about two kilometers from the center, the strong wind can cause it to spread rapidly."
An island frequented by quite a few tourists from Israel is Corfu, and there too there has been a significant fire since the nighttime, which has not yet been controlled. Entire areas have also been evacuated on this island, with fires currently focused mainly on northern Peloponnese near Aigio.
Tourists evacuate Rhodes airport, Photo: AFP.
At the same time, the fires in Rhodes continue and British tourism and airline companies have already cancelled flights and vacation packages for British tourists to the island. Thousands of British tourists are waiting to be evacuated back to their homes, as well as Israeli tourists who are on the island waiting for their return to Israel. At this time, there are no flight cancellations from Israel to Rhodes.
Fires continue in Athens as well, but it is important to note that these are suburbs of the city, and not the tourist areas in its center. In conversations with Israelis in Corfu, they said that the locals find it difficult to understand the cause of the fires, which occurred simultaneously on several different islands, far from each other and without land connections between them.
A huge cloud of smoke over the skies of Rhodes, yesterday, Photo: AP.
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