Tourists are fleeing from Turkish and
Greek holiday resorts
today after deciding to end their breaks early
following a killer earthquake that forced tens of thousands to sleep
outside.
Huge crowds were seen outside
Kos International Airport as holidaymakers attempted to leave the Greek
island with many resorting to lying on the ground with their luggage
outside the terminal.
Two people were killed and hundreds more injured after the powerful earthquake struck off the Turkish coast
overnight, triggering a tsunami that hit tourist resorts in the
Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and damaging buildings across the region.
The epicentre of the magnitude-6.7 quake was off Bodrum, southwest Turkey, with the country's Aegean coast and Greek holiday
islands including Kos and Rhodes worst affected. The Foreign Office
today instructed visitors to 'be aware of the possibility of
aftershocks.'
Holidaymakers fled hotels
in terror and some even jumped from balconies as the quake hit before
running for their lives to higher ground as tsunami waves surged through
beachfront resorts moments later, flooding bars and restaurants,
carrying away cars and depositing boats in town streets.
On
the island of Kos, where a state of emergency has been declared, two
male tourists - a 22-year-old from Sweden and a 39-year-old from Turkey -
were killed after being crushed under a collapsed ceiling at the packed
White Corner Club bar. Another man from Sweden has lost both of his
legs, police said.
It comes as
millions of Britons are expected to head off on holiday today on what is
described as the 'busiest getaway weekend' of the year - but many face
losing out on thousands of pounds after travel firms refused to refund
trips to Greece and Turkey following the deadly earthquake.
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