Two water-bombing helicopters collided while fighting a wildfire near Athens on Sunday, prompting an immediate search and rescue operation for their crews.
The crash occurred near Porto Germeno, a coastal area roughly 70 kilometres northwest of Athens, as the aircraft were working to contain a fire threatening the zone. Firefighters confirmed the accident and said a rescue operation was underway to locate the crew members.
Greece is facing what authorities describe as an extremely difficult situation, driven by extreme weather conditions including wind gusts that frequently reach 100 kilometres per hour. One official said there are moments when the nature and intensity of weather phenomena surpass all human planning and operational capacity.
Firefighters are also working to prevent flames from reaching the western outskirts of Athens, after the fire crossed a mountain during the night. Porto Germeno is a popular holiday destination for Athenians along the Gulf of Corinth, and its population swells considerably during the summer months, raising the risk to civilians.
Greece is now on maximum alert. More than 12,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land have been devastated by fires in the space of a single week. The country had until recently been relatively spared compared with France and Spain, but drought and summer heat have since struck it hard.
