Rhodes Wildfire Evacuation Largest Operation of This Kind in Greek History - Report

ATHENS (Sputnik) - About 19,000 people have been evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes in the largest fire evacuation operation in the Greek history, local media reported on Sunday.

A massive wildfire, which started on Tuesday, has been raging on Rhodes for five days now, with the situation still being out of control. Many houses have burned down. Local authorities say that a total of 30,000 people may have to be evacuated.

The island authorities have already evacuated about 19,000 people from high-risk areas as the wildfire keeps spreading due to strong winds, with flames exceeding five meters in height in some places, a local broadcaster said. Some 16,000 people were transported by land and 3,000 by sea, the broadcaster added.

The elderly and the disabled were mostly transported in police vehicles, while other citizens used tour buses, Coast Guard boats and private vessels, the report said. Nine people were reportedly admitted to medical facilities with respiratory problems, received first aid and were released immediately. So far, only two hospitalizations have been reported.

Tour operators have issued instructions for chartered flights to arrive empty in the areas affected by the fire to pick up those tourists who want to leave the island, while the Greek Foreign Ministry has set up a point for a quick check of travel documents, media reported.

Additional three aircraft (Canadair and two Air Tractor) are assisting with firefighting efforts. A total of 15 firefighting planes and helicopters, as well as two coordination helicopters, are operating on the island, the report read.

More than 30,000 people will be evacuated from areas threatened by the fire, local Culture and Sports Organization head, Teris Hadjioannou, reportedly said.

The evacuation operation continues and local authorities as well as the Coast Guard and the armed forces are using dozens of buses to evacuate people, according to media reports.

Rhodes Vice Mayor Konstantinos Taraslias told a local broadcaster that it is very difficult to put out the fire when the wind is blowing strongly.

"Great efforts are being made to transport our tourists. The island is now receiving a total of over 200,000 tourists. There are about eight thousand of them in the areas affected by fire," Taraslias was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.

He added that over 2,500 people have already been evacuated.

"Fortunately, we have not lost a single human life so far. We are now fighting for the future of our island as well," Taraslias said.

Emergency doctors provided first aid to more than 60 people who had breathing problems and four adults and two newborns were taken to hospitals, the news outlet reported.