Firefighting plane pilots die in Greece crash as wildfires rage

Greece’s hearth division stated the Canadair plane crashed right into a ravine near the place the hearth began on Sunday. Footage on state TV ERT confirmed the aircraft clipping a tree earlier than falling nose-first and exploding.

The pilots have been members of the Greek air drive, and the defence ministry stated it had declared a three-day mourning interval.

The aircraft was amongst at the least three different plane and round 100 firefighters confronting the flames on Evia.

The accident came about as Greece battled wildfires on three main fronts, together with the vacationer islands of Rhodes and Corfu, with lots of the nation’s areas listed at excessive threat of harmful forest fires exacerbated by sturdy winds.

Scientists from the World Climate Attribution group stated Tuesday the heatwaves which have hit components of Europe and North America this month would have been nearly inconceivable with out human-caused local weather change.

“We have now one other tough summer season forward of us,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis advised his cupboard.

Three days earlier than the aircraft crash, Mitsotakis acknowledged that the aged Canadair CL-215 water bombers utilized by Greece — a mannequin first produced within the mid-Nineteen Sixties — have been “previous, tough (to fly) and liable to malfunction.”

He had vowed to herald new fashions out there in 2026.

WWF Greece on Tuesday stated 35,000 hectares (86,500 acres) of forest and different land had been scorched by hearth within the nation simply prior to now week.

Within the capital Athens the warmth is predicted to achieve 41 levels Celsius (106 levels Fahrenheit), and hit as much as 44C in central Greece, in accordance with the nationwide climate forecaster EMY.

Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s civil safety minister, stated crews had battled over 500 fires across the nation for 12 straight days.

Authorities evacuated almost 2,500 folks from Corfu on Monday, after tens of 1000’s of individuals had already fled blazes on Rhodes, with many frightened vacationers scrambling to get residence on evacuation flights.

Greater than 260 firefighters have been nonetheless battling flames for an eighth consecutive day on Rhodes, supported by 9 planes and two helicopters.

A supply at Rhodes airport operators Fraport on Tuesday stated the scenario had normalised, with visitors ranges in line with the peak of the summer season season on considered one of Greece’s prime journey locations.

Some 5,000 folks had flown residence on greater than 40 emergency flights from Sunday to Tuesday, the official advised AFP.

Volunteers had come to assistance from overseas vacationers within the north of Rhodes the place almost 200 individuals are nonetheless camped out at a college after being evacuated from the fires on Saturday.

“I am unable to consider they’re so good, they gave a lot in each means,” stated 69-year-old British vacationer Christine Moody, who was spending her first trip in Greece when the fires hit. “I’m very moved,” she stated.

The mercury hit 46.4C in Gythio, within the southern Peloponnese peninsula on Sunday, shy of a 48C nationwide report.

Mitsotakis has warned that the nation confronted “one other three tough days forward” earlier than excessive temperatures are forecast to ease from Thursday.

– ‘Defend our residence’ –

The extreme heatwave in Greece has additionally been mirrored throughout a lot of southern Europe and Northern Africa.

In Algeria at the least 34 folks have died as wildfires tore by means of residential areas, forcing mass evacuations.

Witnesses described fleeing partitions of flames that raged “like a blowtorch”, and TV footage confirmed charred vehicles, burnt-out retailers and smouldering scrubland.

In Italy, firefighters spent the evening battling wildfires in Sicily, considered one of which approached so near Palermo airport that it shut down for a number of hours Tuesday morning.

Italy’s Civil Safety Division on Tuesday reported “in depth fires” throughout the south.

Within the north, a 16-year-old woman on a tenting journey was amongst two folks killed by falling timber throughout violent storms.

“We’re experiencing in Italy one of the vital sophisticated days in latest a long time — rainstorms, tornadoes and large hail within the north, and scorching warmth and devastating fires within the centre and south,” stated Civil Safety Minister Nello Musumeci.

In Albania’s capital Tirana, temperatures surpassed 40C on Tuesday, spurring hospitals to open a string of emergency care centres to deal with heat-related diseases.

A whole lot of sufferers throughout the nation have been handled for issues linked to the spike in temperatures, together with blood strain points, dizziness, and fainting.

ak-hec-jph/lcm/cw

Initially revealed as Firefighting aircraft pilots die in Greece crash as wildfires rage