Rhodes wildfires: British tourist says trying to escape the flames ‘was literally like the end of the world’
Escaping the wildfires in Rhodes felt like “the end of the world”, a British tourist has told Sky News.
Extreme heat has triggered a number of fires across the region, with the countryside on the island burning for the past five days.
The Greek government says 19,000 people have been evacuated – 16,000 by land and 3,000 by sea – in what it describes as the “largest ever” wildfire evacuation in Greece’s history.
A number of locations on the east of the island have been evacuated, including three seaside resorts.
Holidaymakers evacuated; situation expected to get worse in 45C heat – latest on Rhodes wildfires
Around 2,000 tourists have been evacuated from Kiotari and Lardos on the island’s south east coast.
A new alert is in place for Lindos, a town popular with tourists and famed for its hilltop acropolis which has its roots back as far as 300BC, as well as the villages of Massari, Malonas, Charaki.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is urging Britons on the island to follow the advice of Greek emergency services and to contact the consulate for advice on leaving Rhodes.
However, flights to the island are largely operating as usual, with tour operators including Tui, and easyJet all issuing statements saying they are working with local authorities to help their affected customers.
Jet2 has cancelled all of its flights and holidays due to depart to Rhodes on Sunday – said to be five flights in total – with customers set to be given a full refund and an opportunity to rebook.
Ian Murison, from London, was staying in the Kiotari area of Rhodes, when he noticed the dark clouds pass over his hotel while having dinner on Thursday evening.
Two days later on Saturday, Mr Murison said he was having breakfast on the beach when he noticed the orange sky again, telling Sky News from his rescue boat: “We noticed that the sea had started to become black with soot and actually people were coming out of the sea noticing ash was falling on to their heads.
“I can only describe it as almost a movie experience where everyone’s looking into the sky as it got a very strange orange colour, and everybody was just looking around going, ‘what’s going on?’.”
He said his family went to start packing their bags when an evacuation notice sounded – but the hotel manager said they should remain at the hotel instead.
After that, a coach arrived to take women and children away from the resort, but Mr Murison said only 100 or so of the estimated 1,200 people were able to get on board.
He explained how his family walked down the road for around five kilometres and managed to get a ride to nearby Gennadi beach.
The ash cloud above Ian Murison’s hotel. Pic: Ian Murison
Pic – Ian Murison
“When we arrived, it was just a few hundred people – there were a couple of cafes and bars and they were serving beers and soft drinks, and everybody was just happy, thinking ‘great, we’ve got away from the fire’.
“And then over the next few hours, the amount of people in that area just increased and increased, and then as light fell, people became increasingly anxious about how they were going to get out from this.”
‘It was like the end of the world’
Mr Murison said they were told boats were on their way to collect them, triggering a rush of people to a nearby car park.
“It was literally like the end of the world,” he said.
“And the flames were now far more visible because of course it’s night-time and we couldn’t see that during the day.
“Suddenly there were leaping flames into the sky, and the sky was completely orange in the distance – so that sort of set about a level of panic.”
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Rhodes: Thousands forced to evacuate
Waiting rescue craft off the Rhodes coast. Pic: Ian Murison
‘The beach was littered with suitcases’
Mr Murison and his family made it on to one of the small boats that were taking people to bigger vessels to transport them north to Rhodes Town.
“There were still hundreds of people, maybe a thousand people, on the beach when we left it, and the place was littered with suitcases because they were throwing them off the boats.”
Reflecting on his ordeal, Mr Murison said: “The mood was general panic”.
Scenes on board the rescue vessel. Pic: Ian Murison
“By the time it gets to getting on to the boats and things like that, there’s a lot of pushing and shoving, and there’s a lot of people, a lot of children crying as well.
“So I’m glad that’s all behind us now. Hopefully we can just finish up… in a bit of a calmer mood.”
Europe sends support
Work continues in Rhodes to fight the inferno, with more than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines operating on the ground, assisted by three planes and five helicopters.
The force includes 31 firefighters from Slovakia, with five fire engines.
Israel, Jordan and Turkey have also sent reinforcements, mostly aerial equipment.
Three coastguard vessels, plus one from the army, were evacuating people from two beaches on Saturday.
More than 20 private boats were also assisting, and the Greek navy was sending a vessel.
Evacuation orders in place
The wildfires had previously been confined to the Greek island’s mountainous centre – but quickly spread towards seaside resorts on its central-eastern side.
Fire Service spokesman Yannis Artopios said on Saturday afternoon that residents of four areas had been sent SMS messages to evacuate.
In two areas, people were told to move to the north-east and in two others to the south-west.
“If you are in the areas of Peifkoi, Lindosand Kalathos, evacuate now to Archangelos. Forest fire in your area,” he said.
Tourists are being evacuated
Tourists are being evacuated
Coastguard vessels and more than 30 private boats evacuated at least 2,000 people, including tourists, from beaches close to the areas of Kiotari and Lardos, coastguard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told Skai television.
Greek officials say evacuated locals and visitors have been redirected to hotels, conference centres, schools and other public spaces.
A temporary centre to help those who have lost their travel documents during the evacuation to travel home has been set up at Rhodes airport.
What are the airlines saying?
Jet2 has cancelled all flights and holidays due to depart to Rhodes today.
“We will be contacting affected customers to update them, and to let them know that they will be provided with a full refund and the opportunity to rebook,” according to a spokesperson.
British Airways says it is offering customers on the island who need to come home early to change flights free of charge.
“Customers currently in Rhodes who need to come home early can change their return flight free of charge, and anyone due to travel out from the UK in the next week can change their flight to a later date,” a BA spokesperson said.
EasyJet says its flights are operating “as normal” to and from Rhodes, but has urged customers to check the status of their flights before they travel to the airport.
TUI said its teams on the island are following advice from local authorities.
A spokesperson added: “A small number of hotels have been impacted and as a precaution we’re relocating affected customers and providing them with alternative accommodation.
“Flights continue to operate as normal and we will be in contact with customers should their holidays be impacted.”
Clouds of smoke from a forest fire rise to the sky
Meanwhile, the Association of British Insurers (ABI), says travel insurance is unlikely to cover those who cancel their trips due to concerns over wildfires, unless the UK government advises against travel to the area.
“The primary purpose of travel insurance is to cover the costs of emergency medical treatments or repatriation should the worst happen, which can run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds,” according to an ABI spokesperson.
“It can cover you if you need to cancel or cut short your holiday, but it’s likely this will only be under limited circumstances, for example if you or a close family member fall ill, not because of a disinclination to travel.
“Insurance can cover you if advice from the Government changes since you’ve booked your trip, and it’s no longer considered safe to travel to the destination.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “If you are planning to travel to Rhodes, please check with your travel operator or hotel prior to travel that the area you plan to visit is not impacted by the current wildfires.”
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
Read more:
Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden
Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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