Greece wildfires: Sea evacuations begin in Corfu as rescue flights land in fire-hit Rhodes

Sea evacuations have begun in Corfu to rescue people fleeing wildfires on the Greek Island after blazes began to spread on Sunday evening.

Fires broke out on the northeast side of the island and in the northern Peloponnese, near the town of Aigio. Authorities said the fire in Corfu was “moving southeast on a broad front” and private vessels were on standby to pick up evacuees.

Around 59 people have been evacuated from Nissaki beach on the northwest coast, with the rescue involving six coast guard vessels and nine private vessels, the Greek coast guard said.

But Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell has suggested there are not evacuations taking place on the Greek island of Corfu. Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Monday morning (24 July), Mr Mitchell addressed reports that 2,000 people are being evacuated from Corfu.

He said: “The advice again is to listen carefully to your tour operator and the travel company. But I can tell you that the information I had one minute before this interview started is that there are not any evacuations from Corfu, there had been movement of people overnight within Corfu but this morning they have been sent back to their earlier accommodation. So I hope the situation is a little better and more stable than your reports suggests.”

Earlier he told Sky News he was not sure how many UK citizens are in Corfu, saying: “We’re not sure how many are on Corfu, but the position on Corfu is very different, the fires are not taking place in residential areas or holiday areas.”

He added that it is “difficult to say” whether the wildfires in Greece will get worse and said it “depends on which way the wind blows and how fiercely it blows”.

Firefighters have struggled to contain 82 wildfires across Greece, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far, with the most serious fire on the island of Rhodes.

Some 19,000 people had been evacuated from several locations on the island as wildfires burned for a sixth day, with the Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection describing it as “the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country”. Local police said 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels.

Up to 10,000 Britons are estimated to be on fire-ravaged Rhodes, with repatriation flights to rescue holidaymakers landing back in the UK. Airline easyJet is operating two flights totalling 421 seats on Monday and a third on Tuesday, in addition to its nine scheduled flights to the Greek island.

Travel firm Tui said holidaymakers have returned to the UK from Rhodes on “three dedicated flights overnight”, adding that it has plans in place “to get everyone affected back as soon as possible”.

The company said: “We appreciate how distressing and difficult it’s been for those who have been evacuated and ask that they continue to follow the advice of the local authorities and keep in touch with the Tui reps who are present in all evacuation centres. Our teams will be contacting customers with any updates as soon as they can.

“We have cancelled all outbound flights to Rhodes up to and including Tuesday, and passengers due to travel on these flights will receive full refunds. Passengers due to travel on Wednesday will be offered a fee-free amend to another holiday or the option to cancel for a full refund.

“We are still operating flights to bring those customers currently on holiday elsewhere in Rhodes home as planned. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and teams remains our top priority.”

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed a Rapid Deployment Team has arrived on Rhodes to support travel operators in bringing Britons home. The wildfire had been confined to the island’s mountainous centre but, aided by winds, very high temperatures and dry conditions, it spread towards the coast on the island’s central-eastern side.