Rhodes has been burning for 5 days, the villages are being evacuated

The forest fire, which started 5 days ago on the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean, spread rapidly due to the effect of strong winds. As the flames approached the forest villages, the mayor of Rhodes, Antonis Kambourakis, announced that he had begun the evacuation of the villages of Lindios and Laermon.

Construction crews were said to have started to form a safety strip around the settlements in the fire, which was intervened by 60 water jets, 18 planes and 400 firefighters, and military and firefighting units from Athens, Grit and Lesbos were reinforced to the island.

Meanwhile, it was claimed that the military and rescue teams made great efforts to rescue 20 citizens trapped in the Laerma camp from the flames.

It has been said that 300 hectares of land have been left ash so far in the fire, which could not be controlled.