Massive wildfire on Greek holiday island Rhodes as hotels evacuated & 1,000 people rescued by boats from beaches

A MASSIVE wildfire is burning out of control on a popular Greek holiday island as hotels were evacuated and 1,000 people were rescued from beaches. Local and tourists have been forced to flee as the fires on the island of Rhodes continue to burn fanned by strong winds. Pictures showed columns of people fleeing villages and resorts on the island of Rhodes Extraordinary scenes showed columns of people carrying their luggage fleeing from the fire in Kiotari and Lardo. The fire has scorched swathes of forest since breaking out in a mountainous area on Tuesday. Three hotels in the seaside village of Kiotari on Saturday, according to the Athens News Agency. It comes as Greece continues to face high temperatures – with forecasts of up to 45C going into next week. Coastguard vessels and more than 20 private boats took part in an operation to evacuate about 1,000 people from beaches. Firefighters, backed by air water bombers and reinforcements by Slovakia, struggled with new outbreaks of the wildfire due to the windy conditions.