NI couple home after holiday horror as wildfires spread in Greece

A Northern Ireland family have spoken of their dramatic escape from the wildfires that are continuing to burn across the Greek Island of Rhodes.

Conor and Danielle Cullen arrived home last night with their two young daughters after fearing they might not survive.

"It was hell. I actually thought at one stage, is this how we are going to go", Danielle told UTV.

The family were on holiday in the village of Kiotrai when they were evacuated from their hotel, the Rodos Princess Beach Hotel, on Saturday afternoon.

As they saw the flames grow closer they quickly grabbed a small bag containing their passports, phones and wallets and got on a bus to the village of Gennadi. 

However, as night fell they noticed the flames were getting closer.

"During the day you couldn't see flames, only smoke. But as night fell the hills were alive with orange flares ... You could see that the fire was growing. I think that's when you could definitely feel tension," said Conor.

The couple decided to head to a nearby beach where boats were rescuing thousands of stranded holidaymakers. However, they were worried about the safety of the boats.

"The boats were small. People were hanging on to the sides. The boats were overcrowded. Dozens of people were standing at the edge of the water, suitcases were floating in the water," Danielle said.

 The family got onto a boat at 2am on Sunday morning, which brought them to the village of Afantou where they spent several hours in a small school with other holidaymakers. They then sourced a flight home to Belfast via Gatwick.

The family had booked their holiday through EasyJet Holidays. They have criticised the company, claiming they were left to fend for themselves. They said it took EasyJet 12 hours to contact them after they were first evacuated from their hotel and that it was difficult to contact the company for help.

In a statement EasyJet said: "“There is nothing more important to us than the safety and wellbeing of our customers. As the situation in Rhodes has evolved, we’ve prioritised keeping our impacted customers updated, sourcing them alternative accommodation and organising a return to the UK at the earliest opportunity.

“We’re really sorry to hear that Mr and Mrs Cullen’s holiday was impacted by the wildfires. As soon as we were aware of the situation and as it unfolded, we got in touch with Mr and Mrs Cullen several times to share updates and next steps, including confirming the alternative hotel we had sourced. 

“While the concerning wildfire situations is out of our control, we apologise for any disappointment caused and we’ll be in touch with Mr and Mrs Cullen to discuss a partial refund for the disrupted element of their holiday.”

The first flights carrying fleeing Northern Ireland passengers from Rhodes are due to land at Belfast International Airport later this evening. 

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