THOUSANDS have been left stranded and two dead after gale force winds have pummelled Greece.
Travel plans have been disrupted for hundreds of tourists bound for holiday hotspot islands including Mykonos and Naxos.
ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕThe raging winds have disrupted travel for tens of thousands of summer travellers[/caption]
www.protothema.grThousands of travellers have been left stranded[/caption]
EPATourists have been urged to seek alternative routes[/caption]
A sailing ban has been issued as authorities have urged travellers to seek alternative routes amid raging winds across the islands.
The restriction does not apply, however, to ferries heading to and from the nearby Saronic Gulf islands.
The civil protection ministry said wind gusts would reach 88 kilometres (54 miles) an hour, especially in the southern Aegean and the Sea of Crete, sparking travel chaos for thousands of tourists.
Passengers are suffering mounting queues thanks to dozens of cancelled ferries at the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio.
Ferries for Syros, Tiros and popular party island Mykono will not take place today, while scheduled routes from Piraeus on Saturday will depart as planned.
Planned journeys to Syros, Mykonos, Evdilos, Karlovasi and return will also not go ahead today.
Meanwhile, two Vietnamese tourists died at sea in Greece on Friday, the coastguard said as gale-force winds lashed the island.
“They were Vietnamese tourists on a cruise ship group. The woman fell in the water and the man apparently tried to save her,” she said.
While the woman’s body has been recovered, authorities are still searching for the man’s.
The coastguard said most ferries were unable to depart on schedule from Piraeus and other Athens ports, especially to the Cyclades or Dodecanese islands.
Maritime connections with the Saronic islands near Athens including Aegina, Hydra, Poros and Spetses and the Ionian Sea are unaffected, it added.
The Athens National Observatory in a statement also warned there was a “very high potential for wind-driven forest fires”, particularly in the east and south of the country.
The mayor of Athens had shut down the National Garden on Thursday after a tree fell in one of the capital’s busiest high streets, narrowly missing shoppers.
Strong winds are common in Greece at this time of year.
AFPPeople wait outside ticket offices at the port of Piraeus[/caption]
EPAPassengers form a queue outside a travel agency[/caption]
AFPFerries for Syros, Tiros and popular party island Mykono will not take place today[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
