BBC News 23 July 2023
- Wildfires spreading across the Greek island of Rhodes are leaving thousands of tourists in limbo
- The Greek fire brigade says the situation on the island is one of the most difficult it has faced, and warned it could worsen
- Holiday company Jet2 cancelled flights to Rhodes [till 30/7], while TUI cancelled all flights there until Wednesday. They are sending empty planes to the island to return holiday makers.
- Reports suggest around 19,000 people have been evacuated by land and sea to safety. No injuries have been reported, officials say
- Rhodes has been battling wildfires fanned by strong winds since Tuesday, as Europe deals with a challenging heatwave
- High winds are expected this afternoon, which could hamper firefighters' battle to contain the blaze
The fire department spokesperson in Rhodes says the service is currently using 10 firefighting airplanes, eight firefighting helicopters, 266 firefighters, 49 fire trucks and hundreds of volunteers, among others, to tackle the blaze on the island.
Staff and volunteers have been joined by 31 Slovakian firefighters with four fire trucks, alongside two French firefighting airplanes and two Turkish firefighting airplanes.
In a statement, they say it's the "largest evacuation operation" ever on the island.
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British Airways tells the BBC it's still planning to fly to Rhodes this week, including one flight tomorrow.
BA customers who are currently in Rhodes on a flight-only booking can change their flight to come back earlier than planned, free of charge, the airline says.
And anyone flying to Rhodes with BA over the next week can change their flight to a later date, also free of charge.
As for the BA flight tomorrow - the airline says it will use a larger plane than normal so that it can pick up as many people as possible in Rhodes who want to return to the UK.
