BBC: Two crew members have been killed after two helicopters collided mid-air in Greece while battling wildfires.
The fatalities were a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer. A British pilot and another Greek co-ordinator on the second helicopter survived.
Video of the incident some 65 km (42 miles) west of the capital Athens shows one of the two Bell helicopters hitting the propellers of the other, which bursts into flames and crashes in a ravine. The other aircraft made an emergency landing.
Wildfires have broken out in Greece this week, prompting mass evacuations. Other European states have also suffered devastating blazes during prolonged heatwaves.
According to the Greek Fire Service, the two Bell helicopters leased from Australian company McDermott Aviation collided on Sunday while taking part in efforts to tackle a large wildfire burning on the Attica-Boeotia border.
The crew members of one aircraft were rescued alive, while the second crew were recovered unconscious and later pronounced dead.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his “deepest sorrow” over the accident.
In a post on X, he said the loss of the Greek coordinator and Danish pilot “fills us all with grief”. He also sent condolences to their families.
According to protocol, all Bell helicopters across the country have been grounded, a source from the civil protection ministry told the BBC.
The source added that the second Bell helicopter involved in the collision made an emergency landing in an area of low vegetation.
“The two people on board, a British pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer – escaped with minor injuries,” the source said.
“Both remained conscious and have been admitted to hospital, where they will remain under observation for 24 hours as a precaution.”
The source also told the BBC the British survivor was a private pilot hired for the wildfire season.
He was not part of any exchange between the UK and Greece, and there was no request for assistance from Athens.
Meanwhile, Greece’s Ekathimerini news website said the two survivors immediately reported the collision, guiding rescuers to the crash site.
