"Hell on Earth": Tourists flee as wildfires rage on Greek islands

Tour operators began flying home tourists as wildfires raged on the Greek island of Rhodes and Corfu on Monday and officials said the threat of further fires was high in almost every region of the country.

"Well, close up it looked like hell on earth to be honest and you know, there's a lot of fire..." one British tourist recalled after arriving back to the U.K. from a cut-short trip to Rhodes.

Some 19,000 people were moved from homes and hotels overnight as fires burning on the Mediterranean island since Wednesday gathered pace, tearing through forests until the flames reached coastal resorts on the island's south-eastern coast.

Tourists spent the night on the airport floor, waiting for repatriation flights, the first of which came overnight.

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