Celia Derbyshire, from Cheshire, was holidaying in the resort village of Kiotari, south of Rhodes, with her two daughters, Mimi, 12, and Olivia, 15.
The three were going to stay at a five star resort for a week, on a holiday which cost over £3,000 and was booked through holiday provider Tui.
She arrived at her hotel on Friday, awoke the next day to plumes of black and yellow smoke approaching the hotel, and fled with her daughters to the waterfront with hundreds of others.
She said a makeshift fleet of tourist and fishing boats was collecting them at the beach to take them out.
At the time, she said, “the smoke turned from a yellow plume in the morning to a very pungent black”.
They were shouting ‘women and children first’, [but] This did not happen, this did not happen at all.
Unable to reach the evacuation point, Celia and her two daughters have booked their own alternative transport across the island of Kos.
They returned to Manchester on Monday morning, which Celia said was a huge relief for her daughters.
“Infuriatingly humble alcohol fanatic. Unapologetic beer practitioner. Analyst.”
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