Thousands of tourists on the Greek island of Rhodes have spent the last few days evacuating hotels, walking for miles on beaches and waiting for hours at the airport to get a flight home.

Wildfires on the island have been burning since Tuesday, but Saturday saw them become some of the largest fires in Greece amid the recent heatwave. 

Bridget spoke to Lunchtime Live from Rhodes Airport as she and her husband wait for a flight to Belfast. 

“It’s complete bedlam,” she said. “There's just hundreds and hundreds of people trying to get flights.” 

Bridget explained she and her husband were getting ready for a friend’s wedding when hotel staff told them to get to the beach outside the hotel. 

“Hotel staff came onto the beach with towels and soaked them in the water and told us to put them over our heads and start waking,” she said. “Which we did along, with hundreds of other people from different hotels. 

“At one point, I kid you not, we were engulfed in smoke, and that was the scariest part, because your eyes are streaming, your nose is running.”

Splitscreen of the smoke and fire on the beaches of Rhodes, Greece, during the day and later at night. Photos via Bridget Davison.

After walking for miles, Bridget and her fellow evacuators were brought to a village before heading back to the beach to be rescued by locals. 

“Every vessel owned by every person on the island was coming to pick people up from the beach,” she explained.

Bridget was able to stay in a hotel overnight before arriving to the airport to wait to get home.

“We're basically squatting at the airport,” she said.

'No communication'

Newlyweds Rosaleen and Lee started their honeymoon on the south of Rhodes but are currently in a hotel in North Rhodes with no idea where they are staying tonight. 

Rosaleen explained they were not told to evacuate or that the fires were getting worse on Saturday. 

“We just saw people from our room running down onto the beach and we [thought] we need to get out of here,” she said. 

“We could see the smoke coming but there were no alarms or anything at that stage.” 

Lee said there was no communication between the couple and their tour operator. 

“When I say none, I mean literally none,” he said. 

“We had no communication whatsoever from our tour operator until approximately 30 or so hours after we were evacuated from the hotel.” 

Splitscreen of the hotel newlywed couple Rosaleen and Lee stayed at and the school they and other tourists were evacuated to. Photos via Rosaleen Ruane.

The couple was also not told about the seriousness of the fire ahead of their honeymoon.

“This was known about when we landed, that it was a possibility,” said Lee. “We didn’t know that but apparently it was common knowledge.” 

The couple praised the support they received from locals when they arrived at a local school for shelter. 

“I dread to think what would have happened to us without them,” Lee said. 

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