The two-member crew of a firefighting helicopter in Greece was killed on Sunday after their aircraft collided mid-air with another helicopter while responding to a wildfire near Athens, the fire department said.
“The pilots… were taken unconscious to hospital, where their deaths were confirmed,” fire department communications director Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised statement.
State broadcaster ERT had earlier reported that one of the crew members had been rescued alive, while emergency teams searched for the second pilot.
Television footage showed one of the helicopters erupting in flames and crashing to the ground after what appeared to be a collision involving the aircraft’s rotors.
Nearly 500 firefighters were deployed to battle wildfires around the coastal village of Porto Germeno, located about 70 kilometres northwest of Athens, as authorities worked to prevent the flames from spreading towards the western outskirts of the capital.
The fire department said the blaze intensified after advancing up a mountain overnight.
Another 100 firefighters were also battling a separate wildfire in Aigialia, in the northern Peloponnese region.
A fresh fire outbreak was reported late Saturday on the Ionian Sea island of Cephalonia, a popular tourist destination.
Greek news agency ANA reported that a 44-year-old man was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire.
The National Observatory of Athens’ climate monitoring service, meteo.gr, said preliminary estimates showed that more than 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) had been destroyed by separate fires around the Gulf of Corinth, including areas around Porto Germeno.
The service added that weather conditions remained challenging due to strong northerly winds, although they had weakened slightly compared with previous days.
AFP
