THIS is the horror moment beachgoers were surrounded by smoke as a wildfire hit the Italian hotspot of Sardinia.
Sunbathers were sent fleeing after flames reached right up to the sand near Punta Molentis on the southeast of the island.
Unable to drive away, the island’s coast guard evacuated 102 people by sea, while a helicopter provided aerial oversight during the operation.
Some 200 cars and a kiosk were torched and strong winds made the job for firefighters tackling the blaze trickier.
Beachgoers filmed the thick black and grey smoke rising into the sky as they gathered their towels and spades and prepared to flee.
Footage also showed the motors burned out after flames had ripped through the parking area.
Many of those at the beach had driven down near the water to save them walking in the 34C heat.
The area of the Sardinian coast is known as Sarrabus – with local media saying a “jewel” had been destroyed in the fire.
Firefighters fought the flames from above using two Canadair aerial firefighting planes, a firefighting helicopter, aircraft from the regional fleet, and an Italian Air Force unit.
It comes after two people died amid a 50C heatwave aand huge fires in Turkey.
Some 3,500 people have been evacuated after the wildfires hit the northwest of the country.
More than 1,900 firefighters were drafted in to help save those still trapped and to extinguish the flames.
Firefighters have been battling more than 600 fires fuelled by high winds in the drought-hit nation over the past week.
Fires have also hit Greece after a week-long heatwave peaked with temperatures surpassing 45 degrees.
Thousands of people were evacuated as fires swept villages near Athens and Aegean islands.
A wildfire blazed through a northern suburb of Greece’s capital on Saturday, leading the country’s Fire Service to order some residents to evacuate for safety.
Firefighters were also battling three other major fires on Greece‘s two largest islands, Crete and Evia.
Strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly and prompting evacuations of several settlements.
On the island of Evia, 115 firefighters and 24 vehicles were deployed to put out fires, assisted by six planes and seven helicopters.
Cyprus has been hit with its worst wildfires “for 50 years” amid growing fears a 44C heatwave will fuel the blaze even further.
One Brit family, Lucy and Ben Armstrong, tragically had their home in the Troodos mountains burned during the fires on the island.
Speaking to The Sun, Ben said: “We lost everything that day, there’s nothing left.
“We had fish tanks in the house and there was absolutely nothing left of what was in the water except melted glass on the floor.”
Two people were found dead in a burnt car and over 70 houses were destroyed in the fires.
