Travel disruption threat hits UK tourists after earthquake strikes
British holidaymakers were yesterday facing travel disruption at the busiest time of the year after a powerful earthquake off the Greek islands and Turkey killed two people.
Two men, from Sweden and Turkey, died on the Greek island of Kos, while around 200 other people were injured in the quake which also caused cracks to walls and flooding in some buildings in the Turkish resort of Bodrum.
Tourists had to flee their hotel rooms when the tremor, said to have been up to a magnitude of 6.7, struck at around 1:30am yesterday, and was followed by aftershocks through- out the night.
There have been no reports of any injuries to British holidaymakers, said Abta, but some tourists spoke of their shock after expe- riencing the earthquake. Lauren Duffy, 20, from Merseyside, said glass and broken pieces of marble statues were among the debris strewn near her hotel, a short drive from Kos’s Old Town.
The University of Chester student said: “We were woken up by really aggressive shaking. We didn’t know what it was. You couldn’t find your balance. It was just a scary situation.”
Naomi Ruddock, who is on holiday in Kos with her mother Eleanor, said a staff member told her it was the worst earthquake the area had seen.
The 22-year-old, from London, said: “Literally everything was moving. And it kind of felt like you were on a boat.”