Rhodes is literally devastated by fires: mass flight from the Greek island visited by thousands of tourists every year.

There are 30,000 people threatened by the fires and rescued, 2,000 people were evacuated by sea.

George Hadjimarkos, regional governor of the southern Aegean, told Skai television that the operation was hampered by the fires that blocked some road accesses. "The goal is to protect human life," he said.

The tourists and some residents were taken to gymnasiums, schools and hotel convention centers on the island where they will stay overnight, while firefighters are fighting the flames. Three passenger ferries have been moored at the port of Rhodes to welcome the relief efforts, the Athens News Agency reported.

An official of the municipality of Rhodes, Teris Hatziioannou, specified that members of the coast guard, the armed forces and local authorities intervened in the rescue operations and used dozens of buses to transport people away from the fires.

The fires, still out of control, are favored by the weather conditions of the last few days: record heat, with high temperatures, and gusts of wind to fan the flames. The affected areas are also those most frequented by tourists. A large area of forest was burned down, many homes and some luxurious hotels were destroyed.

(Unioneonline/L)

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