Rhodes fires: Welsh tourists describe chaotic escape
- Published
Holidaymaker Gwenllian Glyn described a plume of orange smoke above their hotel
Holidaymakers from Wales have faced chaotic scenes on the Greek island of Rhodes where wildfires forced the closure of hotels in the south.
One family described sleeping on a hotel floor, and another told how they fled as the flames approached.
Fires have forced 19,000 people to be evacuated in Greece's largest ever such operation.
EasyJet is planning repatriation flights, with one family from south Wales set to return home tomorrow.
Caryn Savazzi from Llysworney, Vale of Glamorgan, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast she, her husband and two children arrived to "absolute chaos" at Rhodes airport on Saturday evening.
"We stood in a queue with the children for two hours," she said. "Lots of people [were] very anxious when they were finding out their hotel was closed and they didn't have an alternative."
Ms Savazzi said they were eventually taken to a stadium in Rhodes, but at about 3am local time as they prepared to sleep on the floor of a school hall a local family offered them accommodation.
"They drove us to their home and had a sofa bed set up and we've stayed with them since," she said. "It's been absolutely incredible.
Before the drama: Caryn Savazzi and her son at the beginning of their holiday in Cardiff Airport
"We've only had a better experience compared to the horror of others due to luck," she said. She has been able to book a flight with her family to Bristol on Tuesday.
Lowri Jones, 52, from Crymych, Pembrokeshire, and her 13-year-old daughter Ella were less fortunate.
They also arrived at Rhodes airport to find out their hotel on the south of the island had been affected.
"The last 24 hours have been horrific really," Ms Jones said. She and her daughter were put in another hotel on the north of the island but had to sleep on the floor because there were no available rooms.
Caryn Savazzi photographed crowds of stranded tourists as they arrived into Rhodes
"Our situation is better than a lot of people... we've got all our stuff with us and I know a lot of people who are in a worse situation and people fighting the fires," she added.
"We were herded into a bus, dumped at this hotel. [Hotel staff] have handed out water and tried to keep us going. They had 600 people landing here so there's only so much that they can do.
Her daughter Ella called the trip a "weird experience" .
"We're suppose to be on holiday enjoying ourselves but we've been stressing about where we're going to be next, where we're going to sleep," said Ella. "It's not nice."
Officials estimate 19,000 have been evacuated by land and sea with more people due to be evacuated from three villages - Pefki, Lindos, Kalathos
Another family from Cardiff described the "shocking" experience of having to escape from their hotel on Rhodes.
Ynyr Roberts and Gwenllian Glyn, a BBC Wales journalist, on holiday with their children aged 12 and 10, said they had to leave most of their belongings there.
They described seeing the flames approaching their hotel.
Gwenllian Glyn, Ynyr Roberts and their two children had to leave their hotel on Rhodes in a hurry because of the wildfires
"We saw this big cloud and we received this text on my son's phone saying you have to evacuate the area," Ms Glyn said. "I ran to reception and said I'd like to leave."
But she said there were no buses or plans to evacuate the hotel.
"Obviously they hadn't really planned for this sort of situation and it's just how quickly it developed from nothing to just massive yellow cloud," she said. "The scariest part was when the flames started right by the hotel and just not knowing how much time we had."
Gwenllian Gwyn says she and her family scrambled to find a bus to get them to the airport
When the fire came closer the family decided to run down a hill below their hotel.
"We got to the bottom of the hill and i just saw a small minibus and I just said 'please, please can you take us' and he said 'yes jump in'," she said. A dozen people squeezed into the "tiny" vehicle.
Ynyr Roberts and his daughter Casi, 10, in Rhodes before having to escape
"But [my husband] and my daughter weren't with us so we had to scream 'please can my husband and daughter get on'," she said. "It was really surreal - you see these things in movies and you don't imagine being there."
They spent hours of trying to get to the airport and managed to return to Wales on Sunday morning.
Marlyn Samuel and her husband, Iwan, from Pentre Berw on Anglesey, also had to flee their hotel on the south of the island because of fires.
Marlyn Samuel from Anglesey says she and her husband were "scared for their lives"
She said they also got an evacuation alarm on their phone but when they went to hotel reception they were told "everything was fine" and "not to worry" because the fires were only affecting houses higher up
"But then we got another text, another alarm," she said. "I'll remember that noise until I die.
Wild fires and smoke near a hotel in the south of Rhodes island
"The hotel alarm went and we were evacuated... we were scared for our lives," she said, explaining how roads were being closed even though they could not see the fires.
"The concern was... we would be trapped in the hotel."
Fire crews were still battling wild fires on Rhodes on Monday
Ms Williams said they ended by being evacuated to a school at four in the morning.
"Fair play the Greeks were very good, we got food, toiletries and water and took care of us," she said. "Last night I [had to] sleep on a very comfortable mattress on the floor."
She and her husband were able to get a flight to Manchester Airport early Monday morning.
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