The UAE has expressed its solidarity with Greece over the wildfires caused by a severe heat wave sweeping the country, which have resulted in the death of two people from a crash of a firefighting plane and the evacuation of thousands of people.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the UAE’s support for the Hellenic Republic during these circumstances and expressed sincere condolences and sympathy to the Greek government, people, and the families and relatives of the two aviation accident victims.
Lost everything:
The wildfires in the Aegean island have been burning for a week, forcing 20,000 people, most tourists, to escape in the scorching heat over the weekend, some on foot, some by sea as the night sky turned an apocalyptic orange.
Moreover, the flames swallowed up trees, burned cars, damaged hotels, and left animals dead on the streets.
According to the Greek state broadcaster ERT, around 10% of the island’s land area had burned, but the scale of the destruction has yet to be officially recorded.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who told parliament on Monday that the country was
“at war” vowed to rebuild what was lost and compensate those hurt by the fires in Rhodes and elsewhere in the country where fires have raged uncontrollably.
Summer wildfires are common in Greece, but record temperatures in recent weeks have worsened conditions. A heatwave is forecast to persist this week, with temperatures set to exceed 44°Celsius ( 111.2 Fahrenheit) in some areas.
The scars run deep for the residents of Rhodes, which like most Greek islands, depend mainly on tourism for jobs and income.
Since Monday, more than 2000 holidaymakers have been flown home to satisfy the locals left behind, as the road to normality will be pretty long.
