ATHENS: Officials on the Greek island of Rhodes said Saturday they had moved 30,000 people threatened by wildfires to safety — including 2,000 who had to be ferried off beaches.
George Hadjimarkos, regional governor of the South Aegean, told Skai television that the operation, which was still ongoing, had been hampered by fires cutting off some road access.
“The aim is to protect human life,” he said.
Tourists and some locals were being taken to gyms, schools and hotel conference centers on the island where they will stay overnight, while firefighters battle the blaze.
Three passenger ferries have been moored at the port of Rhodes to accommodate those rescued, Athens News Agency reported.
Members of the coast guard, the armed forces and local authority workers used dozens of buses to help move people away from the fires, said Rhodes municipality official Teris Hatziioannou.
Where the fires had cut off road access, some tourists had to walk to safety.
Panagiotis Dimelis, head of the Archangelos village council, told Skai TV that many locals had rushed to help the tourists.
“It is an unprecedented situation for the island,” he added.
For the beach operation, the coast guard said three of its boats led more than 30 private vessels to pick up people from the Kiotari and Lardos beaches on the east of the Mediterranean island.
A Greek navy boat was also headed to the area to help, according to the coast guard.
From the moment the evacuation alert sounded early in the afternoon, tourists headed for the beach, pulling their suitcases behind them.
Local video footage showed some of them pushing strollers carrying small children under the scorching sun.
Some of those seeking rescue had missed their flights off the island after the fires cut off normal transport routes, according to media reports.
Elsewhere, firefighters are still trying to bring the blaze on the island under control.
Deputy Fire Chief Yannis Artopoios said the blaze on Rhodes, which broke out on a mountain in the center of the island, was the toughest his force had had to face.
Five helicopters and 200 firefighters fought the blaze during the daytime, but the air support was called off as the light failed.
The battle to extinguish the fire in Rhodes continues in the area of Laermon and Lardos, where it is raging out of control.
ERT TV reported that some firefighters were stranded in the Ypseni Monastery, near Lardos, as they tried to convince the nuns living there to leave the area.
But they were reported to be safe.
30,000 people moved to safety as Rhodes wildfires rage
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30,000 people moved to safety as Rhodes wildfires rage
- Three passenger ferries have been moored at the port of Rhodes to accommodate those rescued
- Members of the coastguard, the armed forces and local authority workers used dozens of buses to help move people away from the fires
Australia passes tougher laws on guns, hate crimes after Bondi shooting
- The gun control laws passed with the support of the Greens party despite opposition from the opposition conservative Liberal-National coalition
- The anti-hate laws passed with support from the Liberal party
SYDNEY: Australia has enacted new laws for a national gun buyback, tighter background checks for gun licenses and a crackdown on hate crimes in response to the country’s worst mass shooting in decades at a Jewish festival last month.
Two bills for stricter gun control and anti-hate measures passed the House of Representatives and Senate late on Tuesday during a special sitting of parliament.
The gun control laws passed with the support of the Greens party despite opposition from the opposition conservative Liberal-National coalition. The anti-hate laws passed with support from the Liberal party.
Introducing the gun reforms, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said individuals with “hate in their hearts and guns in their hands” carried out the December 14 attack at the famed Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
“The tragic events at Bondi demand a comprehensive response from government,” Burke said. “As a government we must do everything we can to counter both the motivation and the method.”
The father and son gunmen allegedly behind the attack on Jewish Hanukkah celebrations used powerful firearms that were legally obtained, despite the son being previously examined by Australia’s spy agency.
PARLIAMENT RECALLED EARLY FOR SPECIAL SESSION
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recalled parliament early from its summer break for this week’s special two-day session to toughen curbs after a shooting that shocked the nation and prompted calls for more action on gun control and antisemitism.
The proposed gun control measures enable the largest national buyback scheme since a similar campaign after a 1996 massacre in Tasmania’s Port Arthur, in which a lone gunman killed 35 people.
They also toughen firearm import laws as well as background checks for firearm licenses issued by Australian states, making use of information from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization.
Australia had a record 4.1 million firearms last year, the government said on Sunday, with more than 1.1 million of those in New South Wales, its most populous state and the site of the Bondi attack.
“The sheer number of firearms currently circulating within the Australian community is unsustainable,” Burke said.
The bill passed without the support of the opposition coalition, with a vote of 96-45 in the lower house, and 38-26 in the Senate.
“This bill reveals the contempt the government has for the million gun owners of Australia,” said Shadow Attorney-General Andrew Wallace of the Liberals.
“The prime minister has failed to recognize that guns are tools of trade for so many Australians.”
HATE CRIME PENALTIES STEPPED UP
A second bill steps up penalties for hate crimes, such as jail terms up to 12 years when a religious official or preacher is involved, and allows bans on groups deemed to spread hate.
The bill, which also provides new powers to cancel or refuse visas for those who spread hate, passed the lower house by a 116-7 margin and the Senate 38-22.
It won support from Liberal party lawmakers after ruling Labor struck a deal to include changes such as a requirement the government consult the opposition leader on the listing and delisting of extremist organizations.
The Liberals’ coalition partners abstained from the vote and the Greens opposed it, arguing it would have a “chilling effect” on political debate and protest.
“This bill targets those that support violence, in particular violence targeted at a person because of their immutable attributes,” said Attorney-General Michelle Rowland.
Such conduct is not only criminal but sows the seed of extremism leading to terrorism, she added. Police say the alleged Bondi gunmen were inspired by the Daesh group.
The measures were originally planned for a single bill, but backlash from both the coalition and the Greens forced the government to split the package and drop provisions for an offense of racial vilification.
In its own reforms, New South Wales limits individuals to possession of four guns, and beefs up the power of police to curb protests during designated terrorist attacks.
