The Greek island of Rhodes is ravaged by fierce forest fires. The fires are raging on the southern part of the island. Several thousand people have already been evacuated to the north of Rhodes. There they are taken care of in schools, sports halls and hotels. “The hotels and halls are chock full,” says Lennart Schrauwen from Zundert.
Schrauwen lives in a hotel with his girlfriend and two daughters (aged 2 and 6). “Our hotel is close to the city of Rhodes in the north of the island. The fires are about 50 kilometers from us. Until Friday, 1500 evacuees who had to flee the forest fires were placed in our hotel in one go. The quiet holiday atmosphere turned into hectic within a day. The situation is even worst for the holidaymakers who had to flee the fires.
“People were waiting everywhere.”
According to Schrauwen, the hotel has a capacity for 3,000 people. “That will be 4500 in one fell swoop. Not all people had a location in a hotel. The majority is therefore accommodated in the conference hall. Furthermore, people are really everywhere: in the lobby, on the stairs, in the restaurant, at the swimming pool, etc. There is food and drink for everyone. People come and go. They are waiting to go home.”
“Can we still leave the island with two small children?”
Lennart and his family were supposed to stay in the hotel near Rhodes until next Friday. “There is a lot of uncertainty about whether the fires can be contained. Will we still be able to leave the island with two small children? We did not want to take that risk. This is no longer a holiday for us. We were able to rebook our flight to next Tuesday.”
Transavia is investigating whether additional flights can be carried out to repatriate travelers affected by the forest fires on the Greek island of Rhodes. When those flights will take place is still unknown, but “at the earliest on Monday” says a spokesperson for the airline.