Wildfires in Crete lead to evacuations from hotels in holiday hotspot
Some properties were damaged when strong winds drove the flames through hillside forests.
Authorities said evacuations were ordered at three sites outside the port of Ierapetra on the island's south coast.
Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority, said: 'It's a very difficult situation. The fire is very hard to contain. Right now, they cannot contain it.'
He told the Associated Press that all the tourists who had to be relocated 'are OK' and being sheltered in an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other regions of the island.
More are expected to have been evacuated overnight.
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The Fire Service and a civil protection agency issued localised mobile phone alerts for the evacuations and appealed to residents not to return to try and save their property.
The fires lit up the night sky, cresting ridgelines and edging toward residential areas.
Several residents were treated for breathing difficulties, officials said, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries.
The blaze sent clouds of ash into the night sky, illuminated by the headlights of emergency vehicles and water trucks that lined the coastal road near the resorts of Ferma and Achlia on the southeast of Crete.
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More than 150 firefighters were operating in the area, while water-dropping planes and helicopters remained grounded overnight.
Members of specialized units – often only working with hand tools – were creating hillside fire breaks to try and slow the advance of the blaze.
Crete is one of Greece's most popular tourist destinations. The risk of wildfires remained very high across Crete and parts of southern Greece Thursday, according to a daily bulletin issued by the Fire Service.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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