Greece helicopters crash battling wildfires as search and rescue operation launched
A major search and rescue operation has been launched in Greece after two firefighting helicopter suddenly collided while they were battling the wildfires in Porto Germeno
Two helicopters have crashed while battling wildfires in Greece (file)(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Two firefighting helicopters collided Sunday while battling a wind-driven wildfire in the Porto Germeno area, west of Athens. Footage showed one of the aircraft crashing to the ground.
Each helicopter was carrying a two-person crew, the Greek fire department said. A search-and-rescue operation was underway. Authorities did not immediately provide information on the crews’ condition.
The collision underscored the continuing danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency.
The continent’s crisis split into three stark fronts: strong winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris, and Spain’s major fires stopped advancing.
Firefighters battle the blaze near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens(Image: AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
The most immediate danger was in Greece. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district outside Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea. The danger carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe’s deadliest blaze this century.
Farther west, containment brought no end to the emergency. France’s largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.
Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometer (162-square-mile) scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second, still-uncontained blaze in Provence.
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