Greater than 1,500 people have been evacuated from hotels and houses on the Greek island of Crete due to a rapidly sweeping wildfire.
Some properties were damaged when strong winds drove the flames through hillside forests.
Authorities said evacuations were ordered at three sites outside the port of Ierapetra on the island’s south coast.
Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official on the regional authority, said: ‘It’s a really difficult situation. The fireplace could be very hard to contain. Without delay, they can not contain it.’
He told the Associated Press that each one the tourists who needed to be relocated ‘are OK’ and being sheltered in an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other regions of the island.
More are expected to have been evacuated overnight.
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The Fire Service and a civil protection agency issued localised cell phone alerts for the evacuations and appealed to residents to not return to try to save their property.
The fires lit up the night sky, cresting ridgelines and edging toward residential areas.
Several residents were treated for respiratory difficulties, officials said, but there have been no immediate reports of significant injuries.
The blaze sent clouds of ash into the night sky, illuminated by the headlights of emergency vehicles and water trucks that lined the coastal road near the resorts of Ferma and Achlia on the southeast of Crete.
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Greater than 150 firefighters were operating in the world, while water-dropping planes and helicopters remained grounded overnight.
Members of specialised units – often only working with hand tools – were creating hillside fire breaks to try to slow the advance of the blaze.
Crete is certainly one of Greece’s hottest tourist destinations. The chance of wildfires remained very high across Crete and parts of southern Greece Thursday, in accordance with a day by day bulletin issued by the Fire Service.
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