Athens - Hundreds of French tourists were evacuated safely by sea from a luxury resort on the Greek island of Evia Tuesday after a forest fire quickly spread due to gale-force winds. Coastguard officials conducted the emergency evacuation of 450 French tourists and 150 staff staying at the luxury resort Club Mediterranee in Lihara, located in northern Evia with the help of six vessels as flames approached dangerously close to the hotel.
The tourists were safely evacuated to the beach-side town of Aghios Georgios, also located in the northern part of the island.
The fire was reportedly quickly spreading from Lihara to the town of Gialtra due to fierce winds.
Eight water-carrying planes, two helicopters, 35 fire engines and more than 100 firefighters were attempting to extinguish the blaze that was raging out of control in a pine forest despite blinding smoke and wind.
The fire broke out in the early hours Tuesday due to faulty electrical wires on the island's main power station. Firefighting officials had reportedly extinguished the flame only for it to re- ignite hours later in the late afternoon, fanned by the winds.
"I don't know who gave the orders to leave the area because the fire was not extinguished properly and re-ignited on two fronts," said the mayor of Lihada, Stathis Karanikolas.
Forest fires have become more frequent in Greece in recent summers, triggered by high temperatures and drought but also arson.
In late August, wildfires burned for days through suburbs north of the Greek capital Athens, destroying homes, tens of thousands of acres of forest and forcing thousands to flee in nighttime evacuations.
In 2007, forest fires in the Peloponnese and the island of Evia ended up killing more than 85 people.
