Athens, Jul. 24, (dpa/GNA) – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his country was “at war” with the wildfires which were raqing in 64 regions across the country on Monday, and have forced tens of thousands of tourists on various holiday islands to be evacuated.
The fire danger remains extremely high. This applies to the region of Greater Athens, the Peloponnese peninsula and many islands in the Aegean Sea, the Greek Civil Defence Department warned on Monday.
It added that the high-risk situation is expected to remain in the coming days.
The worst fires raged on the island of Rhodes and on Corfu and Euboea on Monday.
On Rhodes, a large blaze raged for the seventh day in a row. There, some 20,000 people from the south-east of the island had been brought to safety on Saturday in one of Greece’s largest-ever evacuation operations.
Around 9,500 people on Rhodes were still housed in halls and schools or being taken in by locals on Monday, said estimates.
The blaze on Rhodes has damaged around 10% of the island’s hotels, according to the prime minister.
On the island of Corfu, in the north-west of the country, a forest fire was brought under control on Monday.
During the night, the local authorities had taken precautionary measures to evacuate some 1,000 tourists and 1,500 residents.
Coastguard boats brought the holidaymakers and residents to safety, state television reported.
Firefighting planes and helicopters were deployed at first light on Monday to all the fire grounds, according to the Civil Defence Department.
Fire crews from Turkey and Egypt were deployed to reinforce Greek firefighting crews. Strong winds continue to fan the flames, according to a spokesman for the fire brigade.
Efforts are now focused on helping bring tourists back home.
The German travel group Tui has said it is sending additional planes to Greece for stranded tourists.
Six additional planes brought holidaymakers from Germany and the United Kingdom home on Monday morning, Tui said on Monday. Another flight to Denmark was also announced.
“Our colleagues are still working around the clock to support the affected guests,” said Thomas Ellerbeck, who is responsible for group communications at Tui.
The travel group had previously said it would stop all flights to the tourist spot up to and including Tuesday.
On Sunday, Tui reportedly had about 39,000 customers on Rhodes, 7,800 of whom were affected by the fires.
Tour operators are using chartered planes and vacant seats on regular flights, according to the German Travel Association (DRV). Some guests are being taken by ferry to Athens or Turkey to travel home from there, it said.
The situation that Greece finds itself in has been caused by climate change, Mitsotakis stressed during a parliamentary debate broadcast by state radio on Monday.
The Greek leader thanked all the people who helped with the firefighting efforts across the country in recent days.
He said the fact there had been no casualties in the wildfires in several areas was down to the efforts of firefighters, the civil defence service, the coastguard and volunteers. He warned that the next few days would continue to be dangerous.
The first fires began near Athens on Monday last week, amid a heatwave and strong winds.
Greece is eagerly awaiting Thursday, as meteorologists have said temperatures are set to drop.
Temperatures are expected to be around 35 degrees Celsius on Thursday, which is normal for the time of year. On Sunday, 46.4 degrees was measured in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula. This was the fourth-highest temperature ever recorded in Greece, the meteorological office reported.
But before the cooler temperatures arrive, there will be one last hot day with up to 46 degrees on Wednesday, weather experts said.
The cooling will be the result of strong northerly winds, and the Civil Defence Department warned that forest fires could rage out of control again because of these strong winds.
GNA