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Helicopter crash near Athens
Two Greek firefighting helicopters collided midair on Sunday while battling a wind-driven wildfire west of Athens, with the crash occurring near Psatha in the Boeotia region about 45 miles northwest of Athens.
“Two Greek firefighting helicopters collided in midair on Sunday”
CBS News said the helicopters were Bell aircraft operating over the Psatha area west of Athens, each with a two-person crew, and that two crew members, one Greek and one Danish national, were killed while two other crew members, one Greek and one British national, were recovered alive.
ABC News reported that the Hellenic Fire Service confirmed to ABC News that two of the four crew members aboard the two helicopters were killed, while two others survived, and said the helicopters had taken off from Elefsina Air Base in the western Attica region near the wildfire area where they were operating.
ABC News added that the midair crash unfolded as the helicopter crews were helping to battle two fires that ignited on Saturday morning and spread rapidly amid strong wind gusts, prompting evacuations in the Boeotia and Attica regions.
In the same incident, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted on X, saying, "The loss of the Greek coordinator and the Danish pilot while they were operating in the major fire at Porto Germeno fills us all with grief."
Evacuations and firefighting scale
CBS News said strong winds drove flames deeper into the region of the Greek capital and forced fresh evacuations, with the fire beginning Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens.
CBS News reported that firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea Friday and another 12 Saturday, and that nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft have been deployed to fight the fire.
ABC News said around 450 firefighters were deployed on Sunday across the two wildfire zones, and it described the crash as occurring as crews were battling two fires that ignited on Saturday morning and spread rapidly amid strong wind gusts.
ABC News also reported that turbulence and gusts prevented some aircraft from drawing water or making drops, and it said the helicopters were leased by the Hellenic Fire Service.
In a separate account of the same crash, Virgilio quoted Vassilis Vathrakogiannis saying, "I piloti sono stati trasportati privi di sensi in ospedale, dove è stato constatato il decesso".
Broader European wildfire pressure
The Greece wildfire emergency was described by CBS News as threatening communities and an industrial district as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea, and it said the advance carried grim resonance in a region where the "Europe's deadliest blaze this century" killed 104 people.
“"Europe's deadliest blaze this century" killed 104 people”
CBS News said authorities ordered the evacuation of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains, and it said crews were particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth.
In the wider European context, CBS News said fires in and have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched emergency services across simultaneous disasters.
Straight Arrow said the crisis extended beyond Greece, with a large wildfire in the Gironde region in France where the perimeter was held while hot spots were fought inside a burn scar of about 162 square miles, and it said thousands of people remained unable to return home.
Straight Arrow also reported that Spain’s major fires showed signs of easing, while fires in France and Spain forced roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation areas at the height of Europe’s summer travel season.
