The Belgian Foreign Office has said it is assisting 70 Belgian tourists and 132 Belgian residents on the Greek island of Rhodes.
Rhodes is struggling with severe forest fires, with at least 19,000 tourists having already been evacuated to safety. As part of those, at least 70 Belgians are on holiday there with tour operator TUI and 90 or so Belgians booked a trip with Sunweb.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially knows that there are 70 tourists in Rhodes as they registered through the state platform Travellers Online. In addition to that figure, 132 Belgians living in Rhodes are registered with the Belgian Embassy in Athens.
The embassy has contacted those affected, advising them to exercise caution. Some 20 Belgian families already contacted the embassy or the ministry asking for assistance. Their situation is being monitored on a case-by-case basis.
Evacuations in Rhodes on Saturday. Credit: Belga
Other Belgians in the affected areas are asked to pass on their information and location to the embassy. Foreign Affairs is also in contact with tour operators and local authorities.
The travel advice for Greece was updated on Saturday evening. Belgians are advised to closely follow the instructions of local authorities and contact their tour operator or agency before departure for further information about their stay in Rhodes.
On Sunday morning, tour operators TUI, Sunweb and Corendon announced they had cancelled all flights to Rhodes until Tuesday 25 July. A suitable solution will be sought on Sunday for the 70 or so Belgians who had to be evacuated on Saturday.
Credit: Belga
Belgians in the affected areas or their relatives in Belgium can contact the embassy in Athens in case of emergency on the emergency number +30 6945235055 or the FPS Foreign Affairs’ permanent watch service on 02 501 8111.
Five-day fire
Some 30,000 people had to leave their homes or hotels on Saturday because of the fire in the east of this island in the Dodecanese archipelago, at a time when the tourist season is in full swing. Tourists and locals were sheltered in gymnasiums, schools and conference centres for the night.
According to the police, quoted by the Greek news agency ANA, some 19,000 people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, 16,000 of them by land and 3,000 by sea.
