Two helicopters collided while fighting a fire in Greece, killing at least one person
Фото: Reuters
Two firefighting helicopters collided in Greece while battling a large-scale forest fire near Athens. Two crew members died in the crash, while two others were rescued.
This is reported by the Associated Press .
The plane crash occurred on August 2 over the Psata area west of Athens while on a mission to extinguish a large-scale forest fire. After the collision, one of the helicopters fell to the ground.
According to journalists, a Greek citizen, who was acting as the flight coordinator, and a Danish pilot died. Two other crew members, citizens of Greece and Great Britain, were rescued. Both aircraft were Bell firefighting helicopters.
“The loss of the Greek coordinator and the Danish pilot during their attempt to extinguish the large fire in Porto Germeno fills us all with grief,” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The fire, which is being fanned by strong winds, continues to spread across the western part of the Attica region. The flames are threatening residential areas, industrial facilities and forest areas. About 500 firefighters, 23 aircraft and 20 firefighting helicopters are involved in extinguishing the fire.
The day before, rescuers evacuated 254 people by sea, and the next day another 12 people were taken out by boats. In addition, mandatory evacuations were announced for several settlements on the island of Kefalonia due to the approach of the fire to residential buildings.
Earlier it was reported that large-scale forest fires in France and Spain forced the authorities to evacuate more than 220 thousand people and introduce emergency measures . Spain declared a state of emergency for the first time due to the fires, and France turned to the European Union for help. Subsequently, the countries began preparing financial support programs for the regions affected by large-scale forest fires , which have not subsided for more than a week. Despite the fact that the centers of ignition have not yet been completely localized, the governments of both countries are already working on assistance mechanisms.
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