Devon mum describes the 'frantic scramble' to escape Rhodes wildfires

  • Watch Bob Cruwys' interview with Amy Walker

A mum from Devon has described the 'frantic scramble' to escape the wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Amy Walker, who is from Dawlish, was on holiday with her two children and mother.

The family had only been on holiday for two days when their resort was evacuated - but she says there was little to no support from the holiday operator Tui.

Amy described leaving the hotel, saying: "One woman said, 'where are the coaches?' Everyone was frantic and then this Greek man just said 'there they are...'

"These army trucks arrived and we all frantically scrambled to get onto the trucks."

Amy could see the plumes of smoke from their resort. Credit: Amy Walker

Amy and her family then travelled by truck and then by foot, towards the harbour.

They had to ditch their luggage and pushchair by the roadside, meaning she was left carrying her baby.

When they scrambled onboard a boat, Amy said: "As I was climbing, this older woman tried to push me off the ladder, while my baby was strapped to me.

"I felt like I was in a film. I felt like it wasn't real. I hoped someone was going to tell us and say 'you're alright, we've got you.'"

But Amy said that never happened. When they arrived by boat into Rhodes Town, they saw hundreds of people searching for information and shelter.

She said she feels utterly let down by Tui.

"It's fear, panic and all of that was caused by a complete lack of communication," she said.

"We'd seen the flames all day, watched it all play out in front of us with no communication.

"We arrived in Rhodes Town on our own, we left the crisis centre on our own. There was no-one there who we had paid to help us."

The four of them were taken in my a Greek family until they could get back on a flight to the UK. Amy had to book and pay for this herself.

Amy said she had little to no support from the tour operator. Credit: Amy Walker

In a statement, holiday operator TUI, said: "We understand how distressing and difficult it's been for those who had to leave their hotels and curtail their holidays due to the wildfires in Rhodes.

"Our teams have worked round the clock to offer support and we brought in many additional reps to help assist as soon as the situation escalated.

"They've done their utmost in challenging and difficult situations"

Amy said it was shocking seeing flights from the UK still land and people being taken directly to crisis centres, before their holiday had even begun.