Bloke says ‘Rhodes was like Dunkirk’ as wildfires destroyed his £4,000 honeymoon

A bloke who had just tied the knot with his wife has claimed Rhodes was "like Dunkirk" as people scrambled to evacuate the island via the beaches as wildfires raged – ruining his £4,000 honeymoon.

Michael Mallon, an Irishman who lives in Sweden, was on a five-star retreat in Rhodes after marrying his now wife Louise before they found themselves "in the middle of the wildfires" ravaging the island.

The pair had only been on the island two days when they were forced to flee with thousands of other holidaymakers, in a scene Michael likened to the Dunkirk evacuation of the World War Two.

READ MORE: Rhodes horror fires 'caused by human hands' as island blaze sees 16,000 evacuated

"It was a crazy day, we ran for about 8km to get to the zone they told us to go to on the evacuation message," he said, referring to an alert pinged to his phone from the Greek Government on July 20.

He said around 5,000 people had assembled at the meeting point in the village of Gennadi in the south of the island, around a 25-minute drive further south than the town of Lindos.

"We got there and there was no guidance or anything. Electric was out so it was pitch black. Fire then spread and was coming towards the evacuation zone," he said.

"We were told buses were coming to move us but nothing came.

"Then midnight came and the fire was so close to the evacuation zone, and there was about 5,000 people there minimum. And then the boats started coming."

Michael and Louise were collected by friends who were also staying on the island, and they crashed at their Airbnb.

They took a taxi back to their hotel, Mayia Exclusive Resort & Spa in Kiotari village, to grab their bags and are due to fly back to Stockholm on Wednesday (July 26).

Looking on the brightside, Michael said: "We were in Paris before we came here for the first leg of our honeymoon, so at least we got a few days."

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Michael booked directly with the hotel and hopes his travel insurance can help him recoup some of the 4,600 euros (£3,941) he and Louise paid.

Since the blaze started six days ago, local firefighters have struggled to control it and winds are blasting it towards popular resorts.

Thousands of people have been evacuated by boat, with UK travel companies Jet2 and TUI cancelling all flights into the country earlier today until July 30.

It is now being claimed by top officials in the area that the fires were actually man made.

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