Rhodes evacuation was 'like something from a film', says Devon mum

Amy Walker said she and her family watched the smoke from the fires from a distance for most of Saturday

A woman from Devon who is in Rhodes with her family said being evacuated from their hotel was "terrifying".

Amy Walker and her family, from Dawlish, left their hotel late on Saturday, joining thousands "scrambling" to get on to boats.

Ms Walker, her mother, and her two children - aged one and 10 - are due to fly to Bristol later.

About 19,000 people have been evacuated from the Greek island since Tuesday.

Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, Ms Walker said: "We watched the smoke from the fires... all day on Saturday.

"You know, it was a real concern, I'd packed my bag by lunch time, I wanted to go but we were advised to stay in the hotel where there was food and electricity.

"We were reassured everything was OK, and the situation just got worse."

Ms Walker said of leaving the hotel: "It was terrifying, it was like something out of a film.

"Everyone was scrambling and then we had to just ditch our luggage on the road, and walk down to the beach where there was thousands of people in the dark."

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She said: "People were scrambling to get on boats, like small RIBs that the locals had put on, at this point there was no government boats there.

"I just had to like take a minute, and we sat back, and I said 'I can't get on one of those boats, they look like they're about to sink', and we sat there for half an hour, 45 minutes before we mustered up the courage to go and get on one - more boats had come, some Navy RIBs."

Ms Walker said while trying to board one of the RIBs, a woman tried to push her from the ladder.

"She tried to push me off the ladder of the naval boat and I'd got a baby in a carrier strapped to me, she wanted to get on that ladder herself, and she was trying to do anything to get on it and save herself," she said.

Amy Walker said people were "frantic" as they tried to evacuate

Ms Walker said she and her family managed to get on to one of the Navy RIBs safely, which took them to a ferry further out to sea.

She said they were taken to the city of Rhodes and she was grateful to have been taken in by a Greek family, and that she and her family were "being looked after".