A 62-year-old man met a tragic end during the severe storm that battered Rhodes, after his car was swept away by raging floodwaters in the Stegna area and carried into the sea. The victim worked as a night security guard at a local tourist accommodation. Shortly after finishing his shift, he got into his car to leave — only for the vehicle to be overwhelmed by the storm and dragged into the sea. A major emergency response was immediately launched, with ambulance services, the Coast Guard, and the Fire Brigade rushing to the scene, while local residents also did what they could to help.
The 62-year-old’s final moments in Rhodes
The 62-year-old was inside his vehicle, which had been parked near a stream on a downward-sloping section of the Stegna area, close to the seafront. As heavy rainfall intensified, torrential floodwaters swept the car away, sending it into the sea. The man became trapped inside the vehicle and was unable to escape. The car was eventually recovered from the sea with the aid of a crane, and the rescue operation concluded with the man being found unresponsive.
Rhodes storm: Who was the 62-year-old who drowned — his sister speaks about his final moments
The victim’s sister spoke to OPEN TV, describing both the circumstances in which her brother lost his life and the reasons he had remained on Rhodes despite having already retired. As she explained, he had been working as a security guard on the island and, even though he had already qualified for his pension, he chose to stay on until the end of the tourist season.
“He had been doing seasonal work in the area and had been receiving his pension since July. He stayed on to cover his position as a guard until the end of the season. He was getting ready to return to Thessaloniki for the winter,” she said. Recalling her brother’s final moments, she confirmed that the 62-year-old had tried to move his vehicle to safety before tragedy struck. “He tried to move the car to a safer spot, but he was swept away by the flash flood,” she stated.
He was preparing to return to Thessaloniki
The 62-year-old’s presence on Rhodes was tied entirely to his seasonal work, as his permanent home was in Thessaloniki. His retirement in July had marked the end of his working life — yet he chose to stay a little longer on the island to see out his duties until the close of the tourist season. According to his sister, he had been planning to return to Thessaloniki during the winter. His decision to remain on Rhodes to finish out the season, and his fateful attempt to move his car during the storm, proved to be his last.
“He had retired and at the end of the season he was going to go back to his children in Thessaloniki. We were trying to reach him. At some point we called his landlady, and she started crying and said: ‘Vangelis is gone — they found him dead’,” his brother-in-law recounted on Star TV.
The dramatic eyewitness account of the woman who saw the 62-year-old in the sea
A woman who witnessed the 62-year-old in the waters off Stegna, Archangelos, shortly after he was swept away, spoke to Alpha TV. According to reports, the man had attempted to move his car to safety when the stream surged and swept everything in its path. In his effort to drive the vehicle clear, he too was overpowered by the force of the water. Shortly afterwards, the woman spotted him in the sea, pinned down by debris carried by the floodwaters.
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