Firefighters were struggling Thursday to bring a major wildfire on Greece's southern island of Crete under control, hampered by gale force winds whipping up the flames.Thousands of people were evacuated from hotels and homes overnight after the fire started Wednesday afternoon in the Ierapetra area on the island's southern coast,

The blaze has been raging since Wednesday and fire crews say the conditions are creating new flare-ups, making containment efforts extremely difficult.

Most of those fleeing the blaze were tourists as firefighters struggled against heavy winds to bring the flames under control.