Tourist arriving in Rhodes saw 'everything on fire' then was transferred straight to evacuation centre

A holidaymaker from Manchester told how she saw Rhodes 'on fire' as she arrived on Saturday night - and didn't even make it to her hotel. Louise Maguire said she was taken to straight to an evacuation centre after landing to what she described as 'horrendous' scenes as wildfires tear across the Greek holiday island.

Louise was one of 124 passengers coming off a TUI repatriation flight into Birmingham from Rhodes, BirminghamLive report. Many arriving on Monday morning were wrapped in blankets TUI had provided, clutching just their passports and what they could grab.

Louise said she was was transferred to one of the many makeshift rescue centres in schools and gyms, and had to sleep outside 'with cockroaches'. Airlines including TUI said they were 'working tirelessly to support customers' who were stranded and had cancelled all flights to affected areas up to and including Sunday July 30.

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Louise said: "It was awful, we arrived on Saturday in the early hours to get to our resort. As we flew in we could see everything on fire.

"They put us onto buses and sent us to a primary school, and it was horrendous. We slept on the floor, outside with cockroaches climbing over us."

"We've got everything because we’ve not unpacked, I've not had a shower since Saturday, I've not changed or anything. Without the Greek people helping, I'm not sure what we'd have done."

Louise was one of a number of travellers who said Greek locals saved them with their generosity and humanity. Husband-and-wife Dane and Bryony Hullett were among the 19,000 terrified tourists who escaped as part of Greece's biggest-ever evacuation.

Visibly drained, the