A two-man firefighting helicopter crew has died after their aircraft collided mid-air with another helicopter while battling a major wildfire near Athens, Greek authorities have confirmed.
The fatal crash occurred on Sunday as both helicopters were deployed to tackle a fast-moving blaze near the coastal village of Porto Germeno, about 70 kilometres northwest of the Greek capital.
According to the Greek Fire Department, the pilots were rescued from the wreckage and taken to hospital unconscious, where doctors later confirmed their deaths.
Earlier, state broadcaster ERT had reported that one crew member had been found alive while search efforts continued for the second. However, fire department communications director Vassilis Vathrakogiannis later confirmed that both men had died.
Television footage showed one of the helicopters bursting into flames before crashing after what appeared to be a collision between the aircrafts’ rotors.
The accident happened as nearly 500 firefighters battled the wildfire threatening Porto Germeno. Crews worked to stop the flames from advancing towards the western outskirts of Athens after the fire spread rapidly over a nearby mountain overnight.
Elsewhere, around 100 firefighters were tackling another wildfire in Aigialia in the northern Peloponnese.
A separate blaze also broke out late Saturday on the Ionian 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’s climate monitoring platform, meteo.gr, estimated that more than 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) had already been destroyed by separate wildfires, including those affecting Porto Germeno and the Gulf of Corinth.
Although strong northerly winds had eased slightly, the observatory warned that weather conditions remained unfavourable for firefighting operations.
