A fire fighter plane crashed in Greece on Tuesday during a mission to the island of Evia, a spokesman for the fire department told the AFP news agency.
Two people were on the plane and communication with the pilots was lost, according to various media. So far there is no information on fatalities from the accident.
“A Greek Canadair plane, with at least two people on board, crashed near Platanisto,” a town in Evia, spokesman Yannis Artopios said.
A Canadair-style water bomber with “at least two people on board” crashed while fighting a forest fire in #Greecesouth of Evia, fire service spokesman Yannis Artopios told AFP. pic.twitter.com/R9zA3H9kxE
— Greek City Times (@greekcitytimes) July 25, 2023
The two pilots on board, who were reported missing, belonged to the Greek Air Force, according to the Greek Defense Ministry, quoted by state television ERT, which recorded and broadcast images of the plane crashing after dropping water on a front of fire, followed by a large explosion.
Several fire crews and a helicopter headed to the area.
Greece is experiencing a heat wave with record temperatures and has been the scene of several wildfires that continue to ravage parts of the Greek islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Euboea.
In Athens, the thermometers should reach 41ºC and in the center of the country, 44ºC, as forecast by the Greek meteorological agency (EMY).
These extremely high temperatures, which appear after a weekend of intense heat, will continue on Wednesday, with a drop forecast of up to 5ºC starting Thursday, according to the same source.
Greece is experiencing one of the longest heat waves in recent years, according to EMY experts. Without reaching the national historical record of 48ºC, the temperature reached 46.4ºC on Sunday in Gythio, in the southern peninsula of the Peloponnese.
On the front line of the fires, which have been in the country for more than a week, firefighters continue to work on the islands of Rhodes, in the Aegean Sea (southeast), Corfu, in the Ionian Sea (northwest) and on Euboea, a large island east of Athens.
These wildfires, fueled by strong winds, have already destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and vegetation, so far without causing fatalities.
In Euboea, Rhodes and Corfu, where unprecedented evacuation operations took place last weekend, hundreds of firefighters supported by helicopters and planes are trying to contain the flames for the eighth consecutive day, firefighters said.
A Greek Civil Protection appeal to evacuate a town was issued from Monday to Tuesday on this island near Athens, whose northern part was devastated two years ago by violent fires.
A fourth fire front worries firefighters near Aigio, a town in the western Peloponnese.
Many regions of the country remain on Tuesday “on red alert”, that is, in “extreme danger” of forest fires while winds of up to 40 kilometers per hour blow in the Aegean Sea.
Source: TSF
