Hundreds of tourists evacuated in Greek forest fire
Hundreds of tourists evacuated in Greek forest fire
13 October 2009
published by www.reuters.com
Greece —
A forest fire forced the evacuation of about 500 mostly French tourists from a Club Med hotel on the Greek island of Evia on Tuesday, officials said.
“They have been evacuated with three ferry boats and two large passenger ships,” a coastguard official said. “This is a preventive measure, no one is in danger.” The tourists were taken to the nearby port of Edipsos.
More than 60 firefighters battled the blaze in a fir tree forest, using 23 fire engines and 11 eight aircraft. There were no reports of injuries.
In August, wildfire tore through scores of homes and thousands of acres of forest near Athens, forcing thousands of residents to flee.
