Monique Hylkema from Breda was face to face with towering flames on the Greek island of Rhodes on Saturday. She had to flee headlong, together with her cousin Isa. On Sunday evening they landed at Eindhoven Airport, much to their relief. Without suitcases, because they were left behind in the hotel, which probably burned down completely.
What was supposed to be a wonderful holiday in honor of Isa’s sixteenth birthday turned into a downright nightmare. Together they left for the island on Thursday. But on Saturday the atmosphere turned into total chaos.
While Monique and Isa were sitting on the beach, large dark clouds floated over. “We went back to the hotel and asked if there was panic. Travel organization Corendon said no, no action was taken. We packed our bags anyway. Suddenly alarm bells went off and the lights went out, we had to flee, flee.”
The couple ran outside and ended up on the beach. But there too the fire was getting closer, just like the thick smoke. “Even the sun turned fiery red and seemed to be on fire. It was getting warmer around us. We all really had to run away. We walked ten kilometers in the scorching heat.”
It seemed safe for them in a school building, but the fire turned out to be even closer. Again they left and they roamed the streets for several hours that night. Not knowing where to go and according to Monique without any help from their travel organization. Eventually they ended up in the lobby of a hotel, on the floor. Along with a lot of other people.”
At that time, the home front arranged two one-way tickets to Eindhoven for them from Breda. All luck, because the two still had to get to the airport on time. That worked, with the help of an expensive taxi ride worth four hundred euros.
When Monique tells her story at the airport on Sunday evening, her legs are shaking. She rubs her arm and shows a gray bracelet that was supposed to be white. “My arms are full of ashes, this bracelet is covered in ashes, even the water in the sea was ashes. If you haven’t been there, you can’t imagine what it’s like there.”
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The only thing the two have with them are the clothes they are wearing. They left everything else behind. Even if that is the last thing Monique is sad about. She breaks down when she talks about her niece. “She kept yelling, we’re not going to make it, we’re not going to make it! She really thought it was over.”
Will she ever go on holiday to Rhodes again? “I will never go on holiday to an island again. I now know what it’s like to be trapped there when a fire breaks out.”
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