A wildfire on the Greek Island of Rhodes have sparked the biggest fire evacuation operation ever in the country, authorities said on Sunday.
Thousands of people were relocated as flames threatened homes and hotels-many spent the night on beaches and streets, according to the Reuters news agency.
"This is the biggest fire evacuation ever in Greece," Konstantia Dimoglidou, Greek police spokeswoman said. "We had to evacuate an area of 30,000 people. Everything thank God went smoothly. Everybody, especially tourists, followed what we ordered," she added.
Some of the evacuated, including tourists, are being accommodated in other hotels, gyms and a conference center.
Thousands of people were relocated as flames threatened homes and hotels-many spent the night on beaches and streets, according to the Reuters news agency.
"This is the biggest fire evacuation ever in Greece," Konstantia Dimoglidou, Greek police spokeswoman said. "We had to evacuate an area of 30,000 people. Everything thank God went smoothly. Everybody, especially tourists, followed what we ordered," she added.
Some of the evacuated, including tourists, are being accommodated in other hotels, gyms and a conference center.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that while Ukraine has recaptured half the territory that Russia initially seized in its invasion, Kyiv faced “a very hard fight” to win back more.“It’s already taken back about 50 percent of what was initially seized,” Blinken said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
“These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough,” he said, adding: “It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking I think at several months.” Late last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as saying that the counteroffensive’s progress against Russian forces was “slower than desired.”
