Two cruise ship tourists killed as gales batter Greece

Two cruise ship tourists have died at sea in Greece after strong winds battered a holiday hotspot - causing travel chaos for thousands of travellers.

A man and a woman, both from Vietnam, were found on the Sarakiniko beach on the popular holiday island of Milos. The coastguard confirmed the travellers died following a tragic incident on Friday.

A spokesperson for the local coastguard said: "The man and woman were found unconscious in the sea and were taken to the local health centre." It comes after a girl, 3, was found dead on a beach by a horrified passer-by.

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The coastguard added that the travellers had been on a cruise but tragedy struck when gale-force winds battered the island. The spokesperson added: "They were Vietnamese tourists on a cruise ship group.

"The woman fell in the water and the man apparently tried to save her." Their bodies were reportedly recovered by a private boat and driver before being rushed to a health centre, according to The Greek Reporter.

Greece's civil protection ministry said the strong winds battering the island could reach 54 miles an hour, especially in the southern Aegean Sea and the Sea of Crete.

These extreme conditions forced most ferries from Athens to these idyllic holiday islands to cancel or postpone their services. Ferries from the major Athens ports of Piraeus, Lavrio, and Rafina to the islands in the Aegean have been cancelled until at least later today.

Travellers have been urged by the coastguard to check their travel routes with their shipping companies to find updates about services. Despite this, Greece's national weather service said the gale-force winds would end on Friday night.

These strong winds could also prove to be a huge problem on the ground as the Athens National Observatory warned there was a "very high potential for wind-driven forest fires". A fire reportedly broke out in a forest in the island of Kefalonia, on Friday - resulting in 112 people being evacuated to safety.

Greece was hit with horror blazes just two weeks ago, forcing tourists to flee as Athens turned red. Infernos were battled in parts of the capital and on the countries two largest islands.

Emergency crews were pictured working to stop a wildfire raging near Crete's largest city of Chania. This fire started in two separate spots and quickly spread into a larger blaze, burning down two homes.

Another fire also battered parts of Evia, north of Athens and at least 335 firefighters, 19 planes and 13 helicopters were involved in the emergency operation. At the time, fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyannis said: "The real difficulties are ahead of us."